US District Judge James Selna, in Santa Ana, California, presiding over the first court hearing of over 100 lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp, said in a Thursday statement that he would, by next week, come to a final decision about the plaintiffs’ attorneys who would assume a leading role in the massive federal litigation.

The federal lawsuits against the Japanese automaker were consolidated on April 9 in a multidistrict litigation, or MDL, before Judge Selna. However, cases brought in different state courts will not be part of the combined federal litigation in front of Judge Selna.

With the federal judge having vowed to keep a tight rein on the number of lawyers who would be actively involved in trying the case before him, the May 11 court papers reveal that nearly 70 attorneys from various law firms have applied for their appointment as lead counsels.

Meanwhile, Toyota, the biggest automaker in the world, faces at least 228 federal and 99 state lawsuits, which also include proposed class actions over economic loss as well as claims of personal injuries or deaths resulting from sudden-acceleration incidents.

Going by the estimates of some lawyers, Toyota faces a potential civil liability of over $10 billion as the company is trying to cope with an auto-safety disaster that has greatly stained its image.