Toyota Motor Corp.'s legal problems aren't limited to the federal multidistrict litigation over unintended acceleration of its vehicles. Scores of lawsuits are working their way through state courts across the nation, and some of those cases could pave the road for the MDL.

The first hearing in the MDL won't take place until later this month, but some lawyers with cases pending in various state courts already have begun deposing Toyota executives.

Toyota has routinely engaged in questionable, evasive and deceptive legal tactics when sued, frequently claiming it does not have information it is required to turn over and sometimes even ignoring court orders to produce key documents, an Associated Press investigation shows.

In a review of lawsuits filed around the country involving a wide range of complaints — not just the sudden acceleration problems that have led to millions of Toyotas being recalled — the automaker has hidden the existence of tests that would be harmful to its legal position and claimed key material was difficult to get at its headquarters in Japan. It has withheld potentially damaging documents and refused to release data stored electronically in its vehicles.

Nearly 200 lawsuits have been filed so far in federal and state courts throughout the country. The litigation involves both individual personal injury suits and consumer class actions filed on behalf of Toyota owners who claim that the value of their vehicles has been battered by concerns about sudden unintended acceleration.

Birmingham is now the site of an investigation into a fatal wreck involving a Toyota Camry. Attorneys are suing the automaker over an accident that killed one elderly woman and seriously injured another. "There's a problem out there and these cars are killing people," said attorney Cole Portis.

The law firm that helped pry a $4.9 billion settlement out of Merck over its Vioxx painkiller and an Ohio lawyer best known for suing over airplane disasters and silicone breast implants have filed would-be class-actions against Toyota, upping the stakes facing the Japanese automaker over allegedly sticky gas pedals.

So much confusion has arisen from Toyota's announcement to recall 3.8 million vehicles because of their potential to accelerate suddenly and unexpectedly. While Toyota zeroed in on driver's side floor mats as the cause of the problem, saying that they could slide forward and jam the accelerator pedal in full open position, several media venues speculated about the solution. Would the fix amount to a simple floor mat repair? Or would it involve redesigning the gas pedal and / or the electronic-based braking and accelerator controls?