From a young age, Robert Glassman worked hard to perfect his abilities as a public speaker. When he was in high school, his parents enrolled him in a Dale Carnegie program to develop confidence speaking in front of strangers. From high school to law school, Robert was a perennial class president and accustomed to giving planned speeches before large audiences. Join Rahul and Ben as they discuss with Robert the advantages and challenges of transitioning his public speaking skills to success in the courtroom. Robert talks about how he developed expertise in handling high-profile cases involving injuries to children while in the care of the public schools, and lessons learned from his first experience examining witnesses at trial to recently obtaining an eight-figure jury verdict the day after his forty-first birthday.
About Robert Glassman
https://www.panish.law/glassman.html
Robert Glassman is a partner at Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP where he represents plaintiffs in large and complex personal injury cases and is a recognized leader in the Los Angeles legal community.
Recognized by the Daily Journal as among the 2023 Top 40 Lawyers Under 40 in California, Mr. Glassman has also been named a “Rising Star” in Personal Injury litigation by Law360 and recognized as a “Rising Star” by the Super Lawyers publication since 2013 where he has been consistently selected as one of the “Up-and-Coming 100 Southern California Rising Stars”, the list of lawyers who rank at the top of the Super Lawyers’ Rising Stars list.
His work on three high-profile school injury cases – Lee v. Pupil Transportation Cooperative, Pierce v. Murrieta Valley Unified School District, and Sepulveda v. Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District – led to significant reforms at the school districts where the tragedies occurred and helped to establish new child safety laws in California.
Mr. Glassman also represents victims and survivors of sexual abuse, including ‘Jane’ who filed suit against her abusers in the high-profile case against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
A three-time Consumer Attorneys of California Consumer Attorney of the Year finalist for his work on Lee v. Pupil Transportation Cooperative, Pierce v. Murrieta Valley Unified School District, and Sepulveda v. Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District, Mr. Glassman has also been recognized as a 2023 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year for his work on Sepulveda v. Yucaipa-Calimesa Unified School District.
Mr. Glassman currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers Los Angeles Young Lawyers division and is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) Los Angeles Chapter.
SOME OF MR. GLASSMAN’S MOST NOTABLE TRIAL VERDICTS INCLUDE:
- Diao v. Southern California Gas Company (Los Angeles jury awarded a $19,786,818 to injured plaintiff following a gas explosion at home in San Gabriel, CA). The judgment was recently upheld on appeal.
- Dillon v. City of Los Angeles (Los Angeles jury awarded $11,045,000 for a motorcyclist who suffered serious injuries following a collision with a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) vehicle.)
- Crenshaw v. Land O’Lakes, Inc.(Kings County jury awarded $6.45 million to Corcoran State Prison correctional officer after motorcycle crash in Hanford, CA). For the work Mr. Glassman and firm partner Brian Panish did on the Crenshaw case, it was recognized by The Daily Journal as a Top Ten Verdict of 2010.
- Gil v. Anderson (Los Angeles County jury awarded $2,000,969 to a man who was injured when his vehicle was struck from behind by a large commercial plumbing van)
- Ortega v. Lim (San Diego County jury awarded $1,957,500 for a man who suffered a back injury after his pick-up truck was struck by another vehicle whose driver was distracted and ran a red light at an intersection.)
- Kluthe v. Charles Doherty Concrete(Vista, California jury awarded a $1,552,917.56 verdict for a young man who suffered a back injury after his vehicle was struck by a cement dump truck that ran a red light at an intersection)
SOME OF MR. GLASSMAN’S NOTABLE SETTLEMENTS INCLUDE:
- Lee v. Pupil Transportation Cooperative($23,500,000 for the parents of Hun Joon “Paul” Lee, a 19-year-old 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 co-worker)
- Sepulveda v. Yucaipa-Calimesa Unified School District ($15,750,000 for the mother of 13-year-old Adilene Carrasco who suffered an asthma attack at school and died as a result of the district’s failure to follow its own safety protocols)
- Pierce v. Murietta Valley Unified School District($11,000,000 for the family of a middle school student who drowned during a school-sponsored swim party)
- Palmstrom v. City of Pasadena ($7,150,000 for a toddler who suffered severe injuries after she was trapped beneath a 20-foot eucalyptus tree branch that had fallen onto her while playing on a preschool playground)
- Agu v. UC Regents ($4,750,000 for the parents of a Cal Berkeley football player with sickle cell trait who died during an off-season conditioning drill)
Mr. Glassman has also secured eight-figure settlements in a wide range of cases including $32.6 million in a products liability design defect case, $16 million in a premises liability case, $12.45 million in a motor vehicle collision case, and $10 million in a dangerous condition of public property case involving a fallen tree.
He is a member of the executive committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Judicial Appointments Committee (JAC) which responds to the governor’s requests to evaluate individuals under consideration for appointment to the Superior Court bench.
Prior to working at Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP, Mr. Glassman clerked at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in the Major Crimes Division where he worked on high profile murder prosecutions and in the Preliminary Hearing Unit where he conducted dozens of preliminary felony hearings. Mr. Glassman also previously worked on Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer’s Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.
In 2020, Mr. Glassman also led the collaboration between Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP and The Children’s Rights Clinic at Southwestern Law School (CRC) to provide legal representation to low-income children in the areas of school discipline, special education, and personal injury. Under his direction, clients will be represented by the firm in the area of personal injury while Southwestern law students participating in the Children’s Rights Clinic will represent clients in the areas of special education and school discipline under the supervision of Southwestern Law School Professors.
An alumnus of the Whitfield School in St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Glassman also provided an invaluable opportunity in 2021 for the current and future students at his alma mater with the creation of the Glassman Leaders Program. During the program, two selected students — one junior and one senior — develop their public speaking and leadership skills through on-and off-campus coursework and mentorship. Participants also attend an eight-week Dale Carnegie course, which focuses on building communication skills for business people and students alike.
Mr. Glassman attended Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA where he obtained his B.A. degree in English. Following college, Mr. Glassman obtained his law degree from Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles where he served as president of the student body, and was a member of the Trial Advocacy Honors Program.
GLASSMAN’S PREVIOUS LEADERSHIP POSITIONS INCLUDE:
- President, Los Angeles County Bar Association Barristers
- Nickel Club President (Southwestern Law School’s Young Alumni Association)
- Political Chair, New Lawyers Division, Consumer Attorneys of California
- Student Body President, Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles, CA
- Class President, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA.
- Senior Class President, Whitfield School, St. Louis, MO.
Mr. Glassman is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, California, and United States District Courts throughout California.
