The Plaintiffs' Hot List

The National Law Journal

October 10, 2005

Panish, Shea & Boyle

Brian Panish made his bones as a litigator in 1999, with a record-setting $4.9 billion personal injury and products liability verdict agaist General Motors Corp. for members of a family who suffered disfiguring burns when their 1979 Chevrolet Malibu was hit from the rear and the fuel tank exploded. In April, he and Adam Shea and Kevin Boyle (once a law clerk for the late Chief Justice William Rehnquest) parted company with the firm where he won that victory-Greene, Broillet, Panish & Wheeler-to set up shop on their own. Since then, the five-lawyer fim has tried three major cases to jury verdics and negotiated "substantial" confidential settlements with Continental Tire NOrth America Inc. in a tire blowout case and for victims of the crash of Los Angeles-bound Sigapore Airlines Flight 006 in Taiwan. Pending cases involve a claim agaist Boeing Co. for Juan Beltran, an Army warrant officer rendered quadripalegic when his Apache Longbow helicopter crashed during a maintenance flight in Iraq. The firm also is prosecuting numerous Vioxx-related lawsuits.

Noteworthy Cases

• Dominguez/Valencia v. San Francisco, No. CGC-03-422963 (San Francisco Co., Calif., Super. Ct.). Attorneys Panish and Boyle. In September, a California state jury returned a $27.4 million verdict for the wrongful death of 4-year-old Elizabeth Dominquez. The child was killed and her mother severely injured when a city truck ran a redlight, collided with another vehicle and careened into their group on a sidewalk in the city's Mission Distric. This was the largest jury verdict ever recorded against the city and county of San Francisco.
• Sherman v. Courrege, No. EC030284 (Los Angeles Co., Calif., Super. Ct.). Attorneys Panish and Clay Steward. In August, a California state jury returned a $25.5 million verdict for the surviving adult children of a mother and father killed along with one minor son by a drunken driver.<
• Sorensen v. Burlington Northern, No. 02CC00117 (Orange Col, Calif., Super. Ct.). Attorneys Panish and Boyle. The firm won a $2.8 million verdict for the parents of Larry Sorensen, a 48-year-old man who was killed when a freight train collided with the Metrolink commuter train on which he was a passeenger near Anaheim, Calif., in April 2002.

Train Accidents Product Defects Bus Accidents Business Litigation Aviation Disasters Pharmaceutical Litigation Corporate Fraud Government Liability General Personal Injury Wrongful Death Automotive / Tire Defects ATV/ Rhino Rollovers More Practice Areas

Latest Firm News

Tilton v. Sempra - $15 million verdict for brain injury to minor resulting from a power company truck hitting a family vehicle.

Dominguez v. San Francisco - $21 million settlement while case was on appeal. Wrongful death of 4 year-old girl. Largest settlement ever paid by San Francisco.

Contreras v. State of California - $9 million settlment for amputation caused by a damaged freeway guardrail.

Don Gino Dominguez v. South Central Los Angeles Regional Care Center - $2 million verdict for wrongful death of a mentally and physically disabled 39 year-old man. Health care center left man unsupervised and he choked to death.

Doe v. Driver - $5.5 million settlement for death of pedestrian in an auto accident.

Doe v. Oil Refinery - $6.2 Million settlement for wrongful death and personal injury caused by the collapse of tank floating roof.

Avila v. Dresick Farms - $5.64 million dollar jury verdict for girl injured in truck v. van collision. Believed to be the largest verdict in the history of Imperial County, California.

Konrad, et al. v. Hewlett-Packard - Lawsuit filed against Hewlett-Packard for pretexting journalists and their families

Chief Warrant Officers v. Boeing, et al. - $13.55 million settlement for Army maintenance officers severely injured in the crash of Apache Longbow helicopter on a maintenance test flight during Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq.

Does v. Doe Auto Manufacturer: confidential multimillion dollar settlement on behalf of a family involved in on-road rollover of sport utility vehicle.

Does v. Van Manufacturer and Rental Company - Confidential multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of the survivors and family members of 14 church group members involved in a fifteen passenger van rollover.

Hill v. Titan Tire - Confidential multi-million dollar settlement for a 42 year old man who sustained brain injuries following a tire failure on his vehicle.

Dominguez v. San Francisco - $27.4 Million Verdict - Mother and 6 others witnessed a city truck driver run over her daughter on a sidewalk. City completely denied responsibility. Largest verdict ever against the City of San Francisco.

Sherman v. Courrege - $25.5 Million Verdict - Wrongful death of mother, father, and son hit by a drunk driver.

Sorenson v. Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway - $2.8 Million Verdict - Plaintiffs were parents of a 48 year-old man killed when a freight train crashed into a commuter train.

Doe v. Auto Manufacturer - Major Confidential Settlement Fuel fed fire caused by defectively designed 15 passenger van rollover. Many occupants killed or severely burned.

Flores v. Continental Tire - Major Confidential Settlement - Woman sustained paraplegia when the right rear tire on the family's Ford Windstar van experienced a tread belt separation, causing the vehicle to roll over.

Panish, Shea & Boyle on TV - The trial attorneys at Panish, Shea & Boyle have been on numerous televisions shows because of their involvement in many high profile cases.