GM Reaches Settlement Of Two Bellwether Ignition Suits

General Motors Co (GM.N) said on Monday it settled the last two so-called bellwether cases stemming from a faulty ignition switch linked to 124 deaths and 275 injuries. The settlement came on the eve of what would have been the fourth in a series of test trials intended to help GM and plaintiffs define settlement options in 234 injury and death lawsuits consolidated in Manhattan federal court. One of the two cases, which had been set for a Sept. 12 trial, was filed by Virginia resident Stephanie Cockram, who sued GM over injuries she said she sustained in a June 28, 2011 single-vehicle crash while driving a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt.