UPDATE 2-U.S. panel consolidates Toyota cases in California

* Key step in dealing with flood of Toyota lawsuits

* Decision expected to help both plaintiffs, Toyota

* Cases will be litigated in conservative Orange County

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By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES, April 9 (Reuters) - A panel of federal judges consolidated dozens of lawsuits on Friday against Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) over cars that have raced out of control, assigning them to a federal judge in heavily conservative Orange County, California.

The decision is a key step for the U.S. legal system in dealing with the torrent of personal injury claims, consumer-fraud class actions and other civil litigation stemming from unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

The panel assigned U.S. District Judge James Selna, a former state court judge who was appointed to the federal bench in 2003 by President George W. Bush and sits in Orange County, to preside over the consolidated cases.

Significantly, the jury pool will be drawn from mostly suburban Orange County, home to nationally known Christian megachurches and long considered a stronghold of conservatism, especially compared with neighboring Los Angeles.

Most of the Toyota cases are federal and the order will consolidate most of the federal cass.

For the time being, personal injury and wrongful death cases have been excluded, but the ruling said, "We are initially persuaded that the centralized proceedings should eventually include the related personal injury and wrongful death actions."

'AN EXCEPTIONAL JUDGE'

State cases will not be included in the consolidated federal action.

In assigning the cases to a judge in the Central District of California, the panel chose a location close to the headquarters for Toyota's U.S. division, allowing for a streamlined discovery process.

Legal experts said plaintiff's lawyers will cheer the decision because it allows them to pool their resources.

"The plaintiffs are going to be happy because centralizing the case gives them a chance to put their best lawyers on the case," said Ken Seeger, a San Francisco-based product liability attorney who has been closely following the Toyota cases.

"It's also going to be incredibly expensive, and they are paying for this out of their own pockets (on contingency), and they need be able to work together to do that," he said in an interview.

Seeger described Selna, a longtime partner with the top Los Angeles law firm of O'Melveny and Myers who worked on the Exxon Valdez trial, as "an exceptional judge" with a reputation for running an efficient courtroom.

"He's very highly regarded but at the same time he was appointed by Bush and he is considered conservative leaning," Seeger said. "But what's more important for Toyota is you are going to have an Orange County jury pool."

Selna is perhaps best known for ruling last May that a local high school history teacher had violated the U.S. Constitution by describe creationism as "religious, superstitious nonsense" in his classroom.

Toyota faces a potential liability estimated by some lawyers at more than $10 billion related to the auto safety crisis with which it has been dealing for the past few months.

Complaints of runaway vehicles and other safety issues led Toyota to recall more than 8.5 million vehicles worldwide, most for repairs of ill-fitting floor mats and sticking gas pedals.

The consolidated litigation has been named "In re: Toyota Motor Corp Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation." (Additional reporting by David Bailey in Detroit; editing by Andre Grenon)