On August 15, 2014, Hilliard was appointed by Federal Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York as co-lead counsel in the National General Motors (GM) ignition switch litigation.[17] Hilliard represented 326 clients with liability claims, of which 53 involved a fatality. On May 2, 2014, he participated in a discussion session with Kenneth Feinberg who represented GM.[18] On June 30, 2014, Feinberg announced a plan to compensate the victims of the defect.[19]