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Paula Lawlor - A Crusader for Auto Safety

August 8,2007

By John Bisnar

Paula Lawlor seems to have an instinct when it comes to roof crush cases. A cover story in the July issue of Automotive News calls her "another Erin Brockovich." Much like Brockovich who had a hunch, which won millions for residents of a polluted California town, Lawlor always "had a hunch" when it came to vehicle rollover and roof crush cases.

As a researcher and consultant who pretty much taught herself about vehicles, mechanics and the law, Lawlor has helped personal injury attorneys win millions of dollars in damages for victims of rollover and roof crush cases.

So how did a mother of seven children who primarily designed clothes and dabbled in porcelain art become an expert in complex rollover cases that has engineers and attorneys scratching their heads?

"It's a gift," she says. "I can figure things out."

Her statements are deceptively modest and simple. What she really means is that she has a unique talent to research, analyze and organize information.

Lawlor was a late bloomer. Until her late 30s, Lawlor was a homemaker and artist. The turning point in her life came in 1992 when she met a family whose house had been burned to the ground by a defective water heater. Lawlor formed a relationship with the family and took them under her wing. She did research for them and tried to find them a lawyer who could recover damages for the accident.

It was then that she met Michael Piuze, an attorney like our own Brian Chase, who represents victims of rollover crashes. For the next several years she worked for personal injury attorneys that focused on roof crush injury cases, the way that Bisnar Chase does. With Lawlor on their side, attorneys felt as if they had a powerful weapon in their arsenal. Soon she became adept at finding witnesses and culling out important documents that clearly showed that automakers were clearly to blame for the roof crush injuries in rollovers.

That's exactly what fueled Lawlor's passion for these cases.

"When I looked at these documents, it hit me that these auto makers knew what they were doing," she said.

Lawlor says the auto manufacturers had access to the technology that could prevent roof crush in rollovers.

"All these auto manufacturers pushed for the federal safety test that would give their weak roofs a passing grade when they already had the technology and the know-how to make much safer vehicles," she said. "They lobbied hard and got what they wanted."

Then they covered it all up so they could continue to make cheaper vehicles at lower costs and pass it on to the consumers as a safe vehicle, marketing it as something that's the perfect vehicle for the perfect American family.

"Vehicles like the Ford Explorer weren't good enough to begin with," Lawlor says.

She has been involved in several high-profile rollover cases that ended up in record jury verdicts. Lawlor was instrumental in winning a $12-million award against Ford Motor Co. and for a 28-year-old California man who became a paraplegic when the 1975 Ford F-150 he was a passenger in, rolled over. In another case, a Nebraska jury awarded $18.6 million to a 30-year-old woman who became a quadriplegic when the Chevrolet S10 Blazer she was riding in, rolled over, not once, but four times. In that case, Lawlor said she found incriminating documents against General Motors, which showed that the industry giant lobbied hard to weaken roof crush standards. Both verdicts were upheld on appeal.

Although she doesn't work for a particular lawyer any more, Lawlor still gets those calls from attorneys and she helps them out as a consultant. But today she's more than just a helper. Lawlor is an activist, a crusader for the victims shining light on the carefully strategized deception in which the auto makers engage. Today, her mission is to create awareness among the public about that deception and more importantly, to push for federal legislation that would enforce more stringent safety standards to prevent rollovers and roof crush.

Last year, she started her own non-profit called People Safe in Rollovers Foundation. And for the first time she organized a conference in Washington D.C. in July titled "Emergency World Summit on Roof Crush." There's a reason this is an emergency situation, Lawlor explains.

"The number of people who die in these types of accidents is much more than the number of people we're losing in the war zone," she said.

Lawlor is referring to the increase in the number of rollover deaths. An estimated 10,000 people die in such accidents each year in the United States - and that accounts for one-fourth of all highway fatalities in this country. About 16,000 are catastrophically injured each year in rollover accidents.

The summit, featuring engineers from all over the world, experts, safety advocates, trial attorneys and roof crush survivors, was a kick-off for Lawlor's grand roof crush awareness campaign. She's starting a billboard campaign and is lobbying senators to change the safety standards for rollovers and roof strength. She has met several times with the senior counsel doing research on FMVSS 216 (roof crush resistance standard) for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which has the authority to call a Congressional hearing on this issue.

She's also working with victims of rollover crashes and their families. For example, she'll accompany Kevin Moody, whose 18-year-old son Tyler died in a Ford Explorer rollover crash, when he makes a presentation to Senators on the Committee.

"For me it has been such a heart-warming experience to interact and work with these families," she says. "I draw strength and motivation from what they've gone through."

Lawlor says she is not afraid to take risks when it comes to accomplishing her goal. "When I found out what these auto makers were up to, I couldn't keep quiet," she said. "Sometimes I feel like I need to go to the edge. Maybe I'll get in trouble, but I've always found in my life that when I take a risk, I take a step forward."

She's gotten threats of legal action from several auto makers she speaks against. But Lawlor is unperturbed.

"Let them put me in jail," she says, her voice laced with anger. "Maybe then this issue will get some publicity."

The point is, says Lawlor, she is in it for the long haul. She believes that there's a reason she was given this gift.

"I had no background, no training, nothing," she says. "But I'm a natural Private Eye. I'm organized and I use my artist's eye for detail. Most importantly, I connect with people and end up with the most information."

She says she has no ulterior motive in pursuing auto makers.

"I'm not in it for the money," Lawlor says. "Experts know me. Attorneys know me. They've watched me over the years. I believe in it and I'm not going to keep quiet until I make a difference."

HOLDING WRONGDOERS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE DAMAGES THEY CAUSE SINCE 1978

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