Press Release: Number of Eligible Death Claims Surpasses the Original Number of Deaths Reported by GM

News Release

Number of Eligible Death Claims Surpasses the Original Number of Deaths Reported by GM

September 15, 2014

Lawyer Kenneth Feinberg releases first set of statistics for the GM ignition switch compensation plan.

MARIETTA, GA – (September 15, 2014) Kenneth Feinberg, the attorney hired by General Motors to help with the compensation of victims involved in accidents caused by the company’s defective ignition switch has released the first set of statistics for the compensation plan. The statistics show that there are 19 death claims that are eligible to receive payments so far. That is 6 more deaths than the company said were tied to the problem originally. Overall, 125 claims were submitted for deaths and 320 submitted for injuries. The deadline to submit is December 31, 2014.

“We have known all along that the death toll from these defective switches would be much higher than GM’s original number,” said Lance Cooper in response to Mr. Feinberg’s announcement. “Mr. Feinberg has moved quickly in deciding that 19 death claims are eligible to receive payment under the plan. Hopefully, for the over 80 percent of death claims being still considered, Mr. Feinberg will, after reviewing all the evidence submitted, make the right decision and find that the families of these victims are also eligible to receive payment under the plan.”

It has not been released whether any of the 19 claims include all or any of the 13 previously acknowledged victims. The fund has currently received 58 claims for serious injuries and 262 claims for less serious injuries. Out of those claims submitted four people who suffered severe injury such as quadriplegia, paraplegia, double amputation, brain damage or serious burns were found eligible and eight other claims with less serious injuries were found eligible. Not all of the submitted claims have been reviewed. Feinberg stated that GM had engineers determine the 13 deaths caused by the ignition switch. The 19 claims that are eligible were decided applying a legal standard.

About The Cooper Firm

Lance Cooper founded The Cooper Firm in 2006. With experience in substantial personal injury and wrongful death cases, he has represented plaintiffs in numerous civil jury trials and has successfully prosecuted hundreds of cases and gained multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements on behalf of his clients. For more information, visit www.thecooperfirm.com.

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