Rahul Ravipudi

Rahul Ravipudi is a partner at Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP and has spent his legal career handling catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases involving pedestrians, commercial vehicles, industrial or construction accidents, and dangerous conditions of public and private property and represents survivors of sexual abuse and sexual assault.  Mr. Ravipudi also represents consumers in class actions against businesses who engage in unfair/illegal business practices and he represents public entities in cases where corporations have endangered the safety, health, property or comfort of the public.

Currently, Mr. Ravipudi serves as Public Entities Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel in the JUUL Labs Product Cases, representing school districts and other public entities throughout California, in litigation against e-cigarette manufacturer JUUL Labs, Inc.

Named 2017 Trial Lawyer of the Year by Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, Mr. Ravipudi has obtained numerous landmark results including a $28,500,000+ settlement for a special needs student who was catastrophically injured after being struck by a vehicle while under the care and supervision of Victor Elementary School District (VESD) personnel, a $23,500,000 settlement on behalf of the family of 19-year-old Paul Lee, a non-verbal autistic student who tragically died aboard a Whittier school bus after the driver left him behind to engage in a sexual tryst with a coworker, and an $11,000,000+ settlement for the family of Alex Pierce, a 13-year-old Murrieta middle school student who tragically drowned while under the supervision of Murrieta Valley Unified School District (MVUSD) staff and personnel.

Mr. Ravipudi also recovered $9 million from the State of California (Caltrans) when a 16 year old girl on a restricted license lost control of her vehicle and collided into a guardrail damaged two days earlier resulting in a bilateral traumatic below knee amputations. This case involved significant appellate issues which led to Mr. Ravipudi’s article, “Dealing with the state of California’s first line of defense – stonewalling any meaningful discovery” published in The Advocate, Journal of Consumer Attorneys for California, February 2009.

Mr. Ravipudi has also successfully recovered over eight figures against stevedoring companies in the City of Long Beach who allow their longshoremen to recklessly injure and kill independent truck drivers. Mr. Ravipudi shared his insight into successfully litigating cases against the stevedoring companies in an article entitled, “Danger on the Docks – Where there is an injury or death, drugs or alcohol probably were involved” published in The Advocate, Journal of Consumer Attorneys for California, February 2011.

Prior to joining Panish Shea & Boyle, Rahul Ravipudi worked at another consumer law firm where his work helped recover over $4 billion for his clients. Mr. Ravipudi participated as co-lead class counsel in a consumer class action case brought on behalf of all gas and electricity rate payers in the State of California against El Paso Natural Gas Company and Sempra Energy. This case arose out of the California Energy Crisis of 2000/2001 and resulted in the recovery of more than $3.5 billion in restitution to California utility customers. To date, this is recognized as one of the largest antitrust settlements in American history.

Mr. Ravipudi also participated as co-lead counsel on an antitrust class action case brought on behalf of all gas and electricity rate payers in California against Reliant Energy Services and other energy traders for manipulating the California natural gas market by engaging in wash trades, churning, and false reporting. Hundreds of millions of dollars were recovered for rate payers of the State of California as well.

Since 2005, Mr. Ravipudi has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by California Law & Politics magazine – an honor awarded to the top 2.5% of lawyers in the Southern California area under 40 years of age. In 2010, Mr. Ravipudi was profiled in the California Law & Politics magazine in an article entitled “Class Act(ion)”. He is a frequent speaker on various issues, including class action litigation and trial tactics, and

In 2016, Mr. Ravipudi was recognized for his work on Jun v. Chaffery Joint Union High School District when he was chosen as a finalist for both the CAOC’s Consumer Attorney of the Year award as well as a CAALA’s Trial Lawyer of the Year.

Mr. Ravipudi actively publishes articles in various journals and trade publications and is an Associate Editor for The Advocate, Journal of Consumer Attorneys for California. He continues to be an active member of the Consumer Attorneys of California, the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, and the South Asian Bar Association.

Mr. Ravipudi is actively involved in matters of public interest as well. He has been the Treasurer of the South Asian Bar Association Public Interest Foundation. He is also an active supporter of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

He is also actively involved in local, statewide and national bar associations and public interest groups. Mr. Ravipudi serves as the Board of Governor for the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), Litigation Chair for the North American South Asian Bar Association (SABA), board member for the Loyola Law School Advocacy Institute and an honorary board member for the Los Angeles Trial Lawyer Charities (LATLC). In addition, Mr. Ravipudi is an associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and is a member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of California as well as a member of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers.

Mr. Ravipudi received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Minor in Chemistry from the University of California, Riverside and his law degree from Loyola Law School where he has served as an adjunct professor teaching Trial Advocacy since 2008.

Mr. Ravipudi resides in La Canada Flintridge with his wife and three sons.