Lawsuits against Volkswagen to be consolidated in California

NEW ORLEANS — A judicial panel has decided to consolidate hundreds of lawsuits against Volkswagen over its emissions cheating scandal in California, a focal point of the carmaker’s troubles.

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Tuesday gave US District Judge Charles R. Breyer in San Francisco oversight of more than 450 suits filed against the carmaker across the nation.

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The panel met last week in New Orleans to hear from numerous lawyers who were seeking to get the suits consolidated in a particular federal district. Volkswagen and the federal government asked the panel to centralize the suits in Michigan.

Instead, the panel said it makes more sense to turn California into the center of the legal wrangling, in part because there are so many VW owners and dealers there.

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