A multidistrict litigation (MDL) panel on April 9 consolidated class action and individual lawsuits filed over the unintended acceleration problems that led Toyota to recall millions of vehicles. U.S. District Judge James Selma of the Central District of California will oversee the cases in Santa Ana, not far from Toyota's U.S. sales headquarters. According to the order, there are 11 pending cases involving Toyotas accelerating suddenly that are sufficiently common to be centralized in an MDL. [More from Businessweek]

An Associated Press investigation found that “Toyota has routinely engaged in questionable, evasive and deceptive legal tactics when sued, frequently claiming it does not have information it is required to turn over and sometimes even ignoring orders to produce key documents.” The newswire reviewed numerous lawsuits filed around the U.S., not limited to suits filed over the recent acceleration issues. The AP says in one Colorado product liability lawsuit, Toyota withheld documents about internal roof strength tests against a federal judge's order to produce them. Matthew Cairns, president-elect of DRI, is quoted in the story pointing out that “in these big cases,” such discovery battles are typical. [More from the Associated Press]

Amid the revelation of internal Toyota documents and communications suggesting some company responsibility for the acceleration events, the WSJ Law Blog asks, “[W]hy aren't attorneys jumping for joy at what seems like it could be a couple of smoking guns?” Law Blog has a few ideas. [More from the WSJ Law Blog]