General Motor’s bankruptcy proceedings could complicate the mass GM ignition switch lawsuits the company is facing.

Evidence has mounted that GM was aware of the issue for more than a decade before taking decisive action on a potentially-dangerous problem with a number of GM vehicles. The GM ignition switch defect could cause the car to suddenly switch from “drive” to “auxiliary” mode, sometimes called standby mode. In auxiliary mode, a car’s engine shuts off and the airbags disable. If this happened when a car is in motion, as GM ignition switch lawsuits allege, a deadly accident could occur. Dozens of wrongful death GM ignition switch lawsuits have alleged that this defect has resulted in deadly car accidents.

But the bankruptcy issue could complicate GM ignition switch lawsuits. In 2009, General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the company was restructured into a new company, in some ways legally distinct from General Motors, though they bear the same name. Theoretically, if post-bankruptcy GM can prove that it didn’t know about the defect, it would not be liable for the damage.

However, the plaintiffs might be able to argue against this in court. If they can prove GM was aware of the ignition switch defect prior to the bankruptcy, they could argue that GM had a responsibility to establish a trust for people injured by the defect as a part of its bankruptcy restructuring. Companies facing both class action lawsuits and bankruptcy have had such trusts established as part of their bankruptcy proceedings in the past, creating a precedent.

The GM ignition switch defect has been the subject of a number of investigations. In these investigations, evidence has been revealed that GM was aware of the defect but did not disclose the full extent of the problem until recalls more than 10 years after the defect was discovered by GM engineers. GM’s own internal investigation attributed the problem to a company-wide “culture of incompetence.”

On a related note, GM has issued several large-scale recalls this year. This could be the result of increased vigilance as a result of scrutiny over the GM recall lawsuits. However, GM is also facing separate group lawsuits from investors who argue the failure to act on the recall badly damaged GM stock value, and from car owners who allege that the defect negatively impacted the resale value of their vehicles. These are separate legal actions from those surrounding the ignition switch problems.