California State Bar Dismisses Complaint Against Lisoni & Lisoni by Bridgestone/Firestone

LOS ANGELES--Dec. 2, 20032, 2003--Lisoni & Lisoni announced today that it has been informed by The State Bar of California that it has denied a request by Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire (Bridgestone/Firestone) for the Bar to file a complaint against law firm Principals Joseph L. Lisoni (Lisoni) and Gail M. Lisoni for violating its Rules of Professional Conduct.

Lisoni & Lisoni, a Pasadena, CA-based law firm which is litigating a national class action lawsuit against Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. and Bridgestone Corporation, Inc., received notification on November 4 of this year that the tire manufacturer had filed the complaint against the firm. The complaint alleged that the firm had both breached legal rules of conduct and made false accusations about the manufacturer and its products.

Noting that the State Bar's denial of the complaint came just nine days after the firm filed its letter of response with documentation, Lisoni commented: "This quick rejection of the complaint clearly demonstrates that there was no validity to the allegations whatsoever. Basically, this was an act of desperation. Since Bridgestone/Firestone can't derail the litigation in court, they are seeking to have us disbarred. This reflects well on the merits of our lawsuit."

Lisoni & Lisoni filed the national class action lawsuit on August 9, 2002 seeking damages for alleged defects in its Steeltex R4S, R4SII and A/T tires which the lawsuit claims has caused multiple deaths and injuries nationwide. Later in the year, on November 15, the law firm filed a petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requesting it reopen a previous investigation of the Steeltex tire series. Both the lawsuit and the NHTSA petition seek to have the approximately 30 million Steeltex tires recalled that are in the 50 states and United States territories.

Lisoni said that since the lawsuit was filed, the firm has been collecting complaints from owners of Steeltex series tires from around the country who have experienced serious tread separations from their allegedly defective tires. These have come from the public as well as government agencies who have indicated they have had problems with Steeltex tires on ambulances, fire trucks and law enforcement vehicles.

"At this point in the litigation process, it is not going well for Bridgestone/Firestone and it will do anything it can to negatively impact the lawsuit," Lisoni stressed, adding "this complaint to the State Bar is just one example of how nervous it is."

Lisoni noted that a special website, www.firestonesteeltexclassaction.com, was created to provide complete and ongoing information on the progress of the lawsuit.