Salt Lake County v. Volkswagen 9th Circuit Reversal

The firm brought a law suit on behalf of Salt Lake County against Volkswagen for damages caused by its tampering with emissions controls on its diesel vehicles from 2008 to 2015.  Its tampering caused VW cars to emit up to 40 times more nitrogen oxides than the law allowed, in one of the jurisdictions with the worst air quality in the United States.  The case was consolidated with other cases in a multi-district litigation in the Northern District of California.  The federal district court threw the case out, finding that the County’s claims were preempted by federal law.  The County appealed, and the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed, reinstating Salt Lake County’s claims.  Colin King and Paul Simmons represented the County.  They were joined in the appeal by Peter Stris and John Stokes of the California firm Stris & Maher.