By Steven Symes 
It’s no secret Ford has suffered from an inordinate amount of quality control issues in recent years, but the automaker alleges some lemon law attorneys in Southern California have taken advantage. According to a complaint filed by the Dearborn-based company, several prominent legal firms colluded to charge “phantom legal fees” using the California Lemon Law as cover.
Ford’s legal team in a court filing referred to the alleged fraud as a “magical mystery tour of fictitious billings.” As a result, the company claims the law firms violated the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Orgaizations (RICO) Act as they allegedly coordinated with each other to pull off the fraud.
The automaker believes it was bilked out of at least $100 million as a result. That’s not a small quantity of cash.
When consumers have purchased defective vehicles, California state law requires automakers to pay all related expenses, including legal fees. Ford alleges the legal firms added extra expenses by claiming additional billable hours, including claiming to be in multiple places at the same time.
A law firm accused by Ford of being he “ringleader of the criminal enterprise” told the Los Angeles Times those allegations aren’t true.
Instead, they argue Ford is trying to “silence firms who… seek justice for consumers.”
We’ll see if the federal court where this complaint was filed by Ford allows the case to move forward or not. That likely will hinge on the evidence the automaker has presented. Since we haven’t seen that and we’re not attorneys, we couldn’t even begin to weigh in on whether the company has a viable case or not.
However, we can say these are serious allegations which could have an impact on the auto industry moving forward. After all, if Ford’s allegations are shown to have merit, what are the chances other automakers have been targeted thus? And could such a thing have been done in other states?
Is this just an automaker trying to weaken future Lemon Law claims against it? Or are attorneys taking advantage and dipping into the pot more than they should? We’ll have to see how this case plays out, which might take years.
Image via Ford