Join Ben and Rahul for their discussion with legendary trial lawyer Brian Panish, founding partner of Los-Angeles-based trial firm, Panish Shea Boyle and Ravipudi (PSBR).  Brian discusses how the values he learned growing up and playing competitive sports through college shaped his work ethic and approach to the competition of trial practice.  Brian shares keys to success at trial and in building a world-class trial law firm.  Brian is the G.O.A.T. You don’t want to miss this episode!

About Brian Panish

One of the country’s leading trial attorneys, Los Angeles personal injury lawyer 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, over 100 verdicts and settlements in excess of $10 million, six verdicts in excess of $50 million, and more than 500 verdicts and settlements over one million dollars in personal injury, car accident, wrongful death and business litigation cases.

Mr. Panish consistently serves in a leading role in the largest personal injury cases in California and the country. He currently serves as Plaintiffs Co-Lead Counsel in the Woolsey Fire litigation,  Plaintiffs Co-Lead Counsel in the Southern California Fire Cases litigation arising from the 2017 Thomas Fire and subsequent debris flows in Montecito, California, and serves on the Plaintiffs Executive Committee for the 2017 North Bay Fires in Northern California. Mr. Panish also serves as Lead Trial Counsel in the Southern California Gas Leak Cases where he led a team of lawyers in obtaining a $1.8 billion settlement from Southern California Gas Company and Sempra Energy. He previously served in leadership roles in the Asiana Airlines Crash Litigation, the Olympus Superbug CRE Litigation and DePuy ASR Hip Implant Litigation, among others.

Most recently, Mr. Panish has been retained to represent the husband and son of Halyna Hutchins, a cinematographer who was fatally shot and killed by Alec Baldwin on the movie set of ‘Rust’ in October 2021.

Since 2011, Mr. Panish has obtained more than $500 million in verdicts including, among others, a $23,720,996 bench trial award for a Southern California man and his wife after the man suffered a lower leg amputation as a result of being struck by a 28-foot utility truck while riding his motorcycle, a $21,503,420.48 verdict for a man who suffered catastrophic injuries after a vehicle illegally exiting the 405 Freeway HOV lane struck his motorcycle, a landmark $53,745,374 verdict for two Southern California brothers who were severely injured following a head-on collision with CRST big rig, a $41,864,102 jury verdict and subsequent $46,000,000 settlement for a United States Air Force Captain who suffered catastrophic injuries after being struck from behind while on his motorcycle and then dragged the length of a football field and a half by a Southern California Gas Company truck, 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 $21,503,420.48 jury verdict for a Southern California man who suffered catastrophic injuries after a vehicle illegally exiting the 405 Freeway HOV lane struck his motorcycle and sent him careening across three lanes of traffic and into a passing flatbed 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, mass tort 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 as well as serving as Plaintiffs Co-lead Trial Counsel, representing over 7,000 clients in the Porter Ranch Gas Leak litigation.

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:

• 2023 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers
• 2023 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
• 2023 Leading Commercial Litigators – Daily Journal
• 2022 Finalist for CAOC Consumer Attorney of the Year
• 2022 West Trailblazer – The American Lawyer
• 2022 Top 100 Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2022 LA 500 – Los Angeles Business Journal
• 2022 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
• 2022 Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2022 Top 100 Lawyers – Los Angeles Business Journal
• 2022 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
• 2022 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers
• 2022 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award in the area of Personal Injury
• 2022 Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar – Law360
• 2021 Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Attorneys – Los Angeles Business Journal
• 2021 Top 100 Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2021 Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2021 LA 500 – Los Angeles Business Journal
• 2021 Lawdragon Leading Lawyers in America
• 2020 Top 100 Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2021 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year – Mass Tort Litigation / Class Action – Plaintiffs – Los Angeles
• 2020 Lawdragon Leading Lawyers in America
• 2020 Plaintiffs Lawyer Trailblazer – National Law Journal
• 2020 Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2020 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers
• 2019 Top 100 Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2019 Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2019 Plaintiffs Lawyer Trailblazer – National Law Journal
• 2019 Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar – Law360
• 2019 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award in the area of Personal Injury
• 2019 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year – Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs – Los Angeles
• 2018 Finalist for CAOC Consumer Attorney of the Year
• 2018 Top 100 Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2018 Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2018 Daniel O’Connell Award – by Irish American Bar Association-Los Angeles
• 2018 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year – Aviation Law – Los Angeles
• 2017 Top 100 Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2017 Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2017 Civil Advocate Award – by the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel (ASCDC)
• 2017 Finalist (2) for CAOC Consumer Attorney of the Year
• 2016 Outstanding Litigator – by Southwestern Law School
• 2016 Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2016 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year – Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Litigation – Los Angeles
• 2015 National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame
• 2015 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year – Product Liability Litigation – Los Angeles
• 2015 Top 25 Plaintiff Lawyers in California – Daily Journal
• 2015 Robert E. Cartwright Sr. Award (given by the Consumer Attorneys of California in recognition of excellence in trial advocacy and dedication to teaching trial advocacy to fellow lawyers and to the public.)
• 2014 Consumer Attorney of the Year – 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 Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA)
• Top 500 Attorneys and Litigators in the United States by Lawdragon
• Top 10 Southern California Super Lawyers® (various years, including from 2009-2017)
• Listed in Best Lawyers® since 2001
• Listed in Southern California Super Lawyers® since 2004

In addition to his numerous honors, Mr. Panish currently serves as immediate past president 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. Mr. Panish is licensed to practice in California, Nevada, and Texas. Submit our online contact form to request legal assistance with your claim.

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
• $53.745 Million – Lennig v. CRST
• $46 Million – Lo v. Southern California Gas Company
• $39.5 Million – Freeman v. Board of the Trustees of the California State University
• $36.5 Million – Sheth v. Schneider National
• $34.5 Million – Casillas v. Landstar Ranger, Inc.
• $32.5 Million – Johnson/Allen/Cascio v. City of Beverly Hills
• $32 Million __ J.G. v. Tulare County Child Welfare Services
• $27 Million – Dominguez v. San Francisco
• $25.5 Million – Sherman v. Courrege
• $23.7 Million– Rojas v.Hajoca Corporation
• $23.5 Million – Lee v. Pupil Transportation Cooperative