Dallas Judge Orders BMW, Local Counsel to Pay $773K Sanction for Foot-Dragging in ‘Lemon’ SUV Suit

BMW of North America and its Dallas counsel, Hedrick Kring Bailey, have been sanctioned by Dallas County District Judge Eric V. Moyé and ordered to pay more than $773,000 for what the judge called “frivolous and groundless” efforts to bog down a lawsuit by a woman who claims she bought a used BMW that the automaker knew was a lemon.

In a scathing April 28 order, Judge Moyé said BMW and Hedrick Kring Bailey are jointly and severally liable for costs needlessly incurred by Jonathan C. Scott, the lawyer for plaintiff Whitney A. Walker of Dallas, in a 3-year-old lawsuit over Walker’s 2017 purchase of a used 2014 BMW i3. The pending suit contends that BMW offered the electric sports utility vehicle for resale knowing that it “had a long list of defects and problems” which BMW failed to disclose.