Firestone Reportedly Seeking to Settle Suits

Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. is seeking to settle hundreds of wrongful death and injury cases before a federal agency releases findings on the company’s 6.5 million recalled tires, plaintiffs’ lawyers say.

Firestone officials will meet with as many as 100 attorneys attending a trial lawyers’ convention that starts today in Montreal, said Mike Eidson, the lead lawyer for plaintiffs in hundreds of lawsuits consolidated before a federal judge in Indianapolis. Nashville-based Firestone is being sued over tread separations that federal safety officials have linked to 203 traffic deaths.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is to issue a report by August in a yearlong investigation on whether more tires should be recalled. Also looming is a possible $3-billion claim by Ford Motor Co. over allegedly defective tires mounted on its vehicles.

Firestone officials would not confirm whether settlement talks are planned in Montreal.