Brian Panish
One of the country’s leading trial attorneys, Brian Panish has obtained some of the most significant jury verdicts in United States history on behalf of plaintiffs. His courtroom victories include a $4.9 billion record verdict in the landmark products liability case Anderson v. General Motors, and over thirty verdicts and settlements in excess of $10 million in personal injury, car accident, wrongful death and business litigation cases. He also has obtained more than 250 verdicts and settlements over $1 million dollars. Mr. Panish has obtained three jury verdicts in excess of $50 million in personal injury cases – more than any other attorney in California. No other attorney in California has more 8-figure verdicts than Brian Panish.
Since 2011 alone, Mr. Panish has obtained more than $225 million in verdicts, including, among others, a $36.5 million jury verdict against Schneider National for a big-rig crash that left a woman with severe spinal cord injuries, a $34.5 million verdict for a man who suffered a below the knee amputation after being hit by a tractor trailer, a $17.4 million verdict for a Ph.D. student who suffered brain and jaw injuries during a rear end chain collision accident, a $17 million jury verdict against the Los Angeles MTA in the wrongful death of a visually impaired passenger, a $17.845 million award in a wrongful death case involving four family members killed when a Marine jet crashed into their home, a $20 million jury verdict for a woman who suffered a brain injury in a hit-and-run accident involving a J.B. Hunt tractor trailer, a $17 million jury verdict for a 84-year old man hit by a bus resulting in a leg amputation, a $15.3 million jury verdict for a woman and her daughter after the woman was severely injured on a negligently driven Alameda Contra-Costa Transit District bus, a $10.45 million jury verdict for the family of a security guard killed on the CBS studio lot and a $8.3 million jury verdict in the first DePuy ASR Hip Implant case to go to trial.
Because of his expertise in personal injury, wrongful death and product liability cases, Mr. Panish has been appointed to serve on the Plaintiffs’ Steering and Executive committees in numerous high profile mass torts and major disaster cases, including litigation involving train crashes (co-lead counsel in the the Chatsworth Metrolink disaster, the Glendale Metrolink crash, and the Placentia Metrolink collision), airplane disasters (Alaska Airlines Flight 261 and Singapore Airlines Flight 006 crashes), pharmaceuticals (Vioxx and diet drugs), and defective product cases (Welding Rods, DePuy ASR Hip Implant Litigation, and Toyota Unintended Acceleration cases.) He is currently handling numerous cases involving the Asiana Flight 261 plane crash.
Mr. Panish has been recognized by numerous publications and organizations as being among the top trial lawyers in the country. Some of the honors he has received include the following:
- National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame – 2015
- 2016 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year – Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Litigation – Los Angeles
- 2015 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year – Product Liability Litigation – Los Angeles
- 2015 Top 25 Plaintiff’s Lawyers in California – by the Daily Journal
- 2014 Consumer Attorney of the Year – awarded by the Consumer Attorneys of California
- 2013 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award in the area of Personal Injury
- The National Law Journal’s 100 Most Influential Lawyers In America
- Daily Journal’s Top 100 Most Influential Attorneys in California
- 2012 Top 20 Lawyers in California by The Recorder
- 2010 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the California Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
- 2010 Champions of Justice award from Loyola Law School
- 2010 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year – Product Liability Litigation – Los Angeles
- 2009 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year – Personal Injury Litigation – Los Angeles
- 1999 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles (CAALA)
- Top 500 Attorneys and Litigators in the United States by Law Dragon
- Top 10 Southern California Super Lawyers® (various years, including from 2009-2015)
- Listed in Best Lawyers® since 2001
- Listed in Southern California Super Lawyers® since 2004
In addition to his numerous honors, Mr. Panish is a member of the prestigious Inner Circle of Advocates, comprised of 100 of the nation’s top plaintiffs’ lawyers. He is also a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers (including serving on the State Selection Committee), the International Society of Barristers, the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), and was the 2011 President of the Los Angeles Chapter of ABOTA. He is a member of the American Bar Association (formerly a Litigation Section Board Member), the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (formerly on the Board of Governors), and the Consumer Attorneys of California (formerly on the Board of Governors). He also serves on the Best Lawyers® Board of Advisors.
Mr. Panish received his law degree, with honors, from Southwestern Law School, and received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Southwestern in 2011. He received his B.S. from California State University Fresno, where he was named Scholar Athlete, was the recipient of the Athletic Directors Award and was named an outstanding alumnus at the school’s Centennial Celebration in 2010.
VERDICTS AND SETTLEMENTS:
The following is a list of just some of the landmark cases that Brian Panish has been involved in:
- $4.9 Billion – Anderson v. General Motors Corp.
- $3.3 Billion – LA County v. Tobacco Industry
- $58 Million – Griggs v. Caterpillar, et al.
- $55.4 Million – Lampe v. Continental General Tire
- $36.5 Million – Sheth v. Schneider National
- $34.5 Million – Casillas v. Landstar Ranger, Inc.
- $27 Million – Dominguez v. San Francisco
- $25.5 Million – Sherman v. Courrege
- $22 Million – Pogosyan v. SCRTD
- $21 Million – Nelsen v. Hillyard, Inc., et al.
- $17.845 Million – Yoon v. United States
- $17. 4 Million Sheaffer v. NuCO2
- $17 Million – Cuthberton v. LACMTA
- $15.75 Million – Doe v. Alaska Airlines
- $15.3 Million – Francisco v. AC Transit
- $15 Million – Tilton v. Southern California Gas & Electric
- $15 Million – Wu v. Singapore Airlines
- $11 Million – Witham v. Avjet
- $10.45 – Villamariona v. CBS
- $10 Million – Doe v. Alaska Airlines
- $9.5 Million – Ledesma v. Patel
- $9.3 Million – Cedillo v. The Efim Sobol Trust
- $8.3 Million – Kransky v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc.
- $8 Million – Rastello v. City of Torrance
- $7.5 Million – Rennie v. FedEx
ARTICLES BY BRIAN PANISH:
GM should stop passing the buck
- Dayton Daily News – Richard W. Shapiro, who wrote the Nov. 25 letter to the editor “Perpetuating untruths undermines justice,” was a member of the trial team that defended General Motors in the Anderson case.
Experimenting with the Consumer
- Trial Magazine – Brian Panish gives his review of Marshall S. Shapo’s book, “Experimenting with the Consumer.”
Multiple Choice
- Los Angeles Lawyer – Separate choice of law analysis is required for each legal issue arising in a case.
Take Technology to Trial
- Trial – To prevail at trial, a lawyer must present a simple, understandable case that makes a lasting impression with the jurors. But words are not enough.
Jury Trials in The US
- Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong – Mr. Brian Panish joins panel of speakers.
BRIAN PANISH IN THE NEWS:
The following is a list of some of the articles in which Brian Panish is featured:
- What is the value of a poor man’s life?
- Brian Panish addresses The Senate Judiciary Committee
- Brian Panish of Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP Top Vote Getter Among Southern California’s Personal Injury Super Lawyers
- Former Fresno State footballer (Panish) gives generously to Dan Brown Legacy Fund – MedWatch Today, 9/2/10
- Brian Panish and the Toyota Recall – Press Release, 6/7/10
- Judge Agrees to Expand Plaintiffs Committees in Toyota MDL – The National Law Journal, 5/17/10
- Brian Panish Receives #3 Ranking in 2010 List of Top 10 Southern California Super Lawyers– Press Release, 2/2/10
- Personal Injury Litigators of 2010 – The National Law Journal, 2010
- Brian Panish Talks About His Numerous Wins in Air Disaster Cases – The National Law Journal, 2010
- The Los Angeles Area’s Best Lawyers 2006 Survey Results – West – Los Angeles Times Magazine, 11/12/06
- The Top 100: California’s Leading Lawyers – The Daily Journal, 9/21/06
- Profiles in Power: The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America – The National Law Journal, 6/19/06
- Lawyering Up Pellicano’s Victims – Deadline Hollywood Daily, 3/9/06
- Does Brian Panish Ever Lose? – Super Lawyers Magazine, 2006
- The Plaintiffs’ Hot List – The National Law Journal, 10/10/05
- One of America’s Top Trial Lawyers Opens New Law Firm – Press Contact, 4/18/05
- Top 10 LA County Super Lawyers – Southern California Super Lawyers, 2/05
- A Report On The Lawsuit Industry In California 2005 – Trial Lawyers Inc., 2005
- Jury Trials in The US – Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, 10/11/04
- The Top 100 – The Daily Journal, 10/27/03
- Brian Panish Interview – California Civil Jury Instructions, 2003
- The Top 100…Reasons Why It’s Good That Lawyers Have Power – The Daily Journal, 9/30/02
- The Top 100 – The Daily Journal, 10/29/01
- WINNING – Successful Strategies from 10 of the Nation’s Leading Litigators – The National Law Journal, 2001
- The Top 100: California Law Business Ranks the State’s Most Influential Attorneys for 2000 – The Daily Journal, 10/30/00
- The Top 100: California Law Business Ranks the State’s Most Influential Attorneys for 1999 – The Daily Journal, 9/13/99
- To Panish, Client’s Most Important – Verdicts & Settlements, 2/16/96
- Brian Panish named TLPJ’s Trial Lawyer of the Year – TLPJ Foundation Letter, 8/6/90
- ATLA Meeting This Week in San Diego – California Law Business, 7/23/90
- LA’s Top Attorneys & Law Firms – Angeleno Magazine
- Panish Leaves Greene Broillet For Own Firm – The Daily Journal
- Panish Among 500 Leading Lawyers – Lawdragon
- Panish Among 500 Leading Litigators – Lawdragon