Tire-Lawsuit Attorneys to Question Ford Chief

Lawyers will get a chance this week to question Ford Motor President Jacques A. Nasser during a two-day deposition about tire-related accidents involving the Ford Explorer.

The deposition, which is to take place at Ford’s headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., Wednesday, Thursday and possibly a third day, could affect hundreds of lawsuits filed against the company.

Nasser has twice testified before Congress about the Firestone tire controversy. He will face intense questioning from attorneys representing more than 300 consolidated personal-injury and class-action lawsuits in federal court.

Lawyers representing hundreds of cases in state courts in California, Texas and elsewhere also will question Nasser.

“Obviously, a lot of lawyers around the country believe this is an important deposition,” Frank Branson, a Dallas lawyer who will query Nasser for seven hours Wednesday, told the Detroit News in Sunday’s editions. “It will be very interesting to find out what he knows and what he thinks.”

Ford has spent millions of dollars to settle cases with dozens of victims of accidents involving the Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle and Firestone tires, but hundreds of cases are still pending. The responses Nasser gives this week can be introduced as evidence in any future trial involving the Explorer and Firestone tires.