Brian Panish
Brian Panish is a graduate of California State University, Fresno (B.S., Cum Laude, 1980), where he received the Fresno State Scholar Athlete Award and Athletic Directors Award and was also selected as California State University, Fresno’s 2010 Outstanding Alumni. While attending Southwestern Law School (J.D., Cum Laude, 1984), he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Wills and Trusts, Legal Professions Secured Transactions, Entertainment Law and Product Liability.
Verdicts and Settlements
Brian Panish has obtained more than 100 verdicts and settlements in excess of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000), including 10 jury verdicts in excess of Ten Million Dollars ($10,000,000), and one for Four Billion Nine-Hundred and Seven Million Dollars ($4,907,662,321), the largest personal injury and product liability verdict in history. The following is a brief list of a few of the landmark cases that he has been a part of:
- $4.9 Billion – Anderson v. General Motors Corp.
- $3.3 Billion – LA County v. Tobacco Industry
- $58 Million – Griggs v. Caterpillar, et al.
- $55.6 Million – Lampe v. Continental General Tire
- $27 Million – Dominguez v. San Francisco
- $25.5 Million – Sherman v. Courrege
- $22 Million – Pogosyan v. SCRTD
- $21 Million – Michael Nelsen v. Hillyard, Inc., et al.
- $15.75 Million – Doe v. Alaska Airlines
- $15 Million – Tilton v. Southern California Gas & Electric
- $15 Million – Wu v. Singapore Airlines
- $11 Million – Witham v. Avjet
- $10 Million – Doe v. Alaska Airlines
- $9.5 Million – Ledesma v. Patel
- $9.3 Million – Sergio Cedillo v. The Efim Sobol Trust
- $8 Million – Rastello v. City of Torrance
- $7.3 Million – Susan Elizabeth Johnson v. Pratt & Whitney Canada, Inc.
- $7 Million – Vega Family v. Verizon
- $6.75 Million – Vanmalibhai Galal v. City of Long Beach
- $6.5 Million – Flores v. Doe
- $6.25 Million – DeLew v. NHP (Nevada Highway Patrol)*
- $5.7 Million – Gonzalez v. Dresick Farms
- $5.5 Million – Doe v. Alaska Airlines
- $4.6 Million – Gandy, et al. v. R.W. Manufacturing, et al.
- $4.5 Million – Teraberanyans v. Browning-Ferris Industries
- $4.4 Million – Doiron v. City of Riverside
- $4 Million – Doe v. Flight Booker
- $3.2 Million – Staley v. Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Agency (MTA)
- $2.75 Million – Juan Cruz v. Hertz Corporation
- $2.7 Million – Sorenson v. Burlington N. Santa Fe Railroad
- $2.6 Million – Pesso v. Meyers
- $2.39 Million – Maurice Dahn v. Rockwell International
- $1.9 Million – Patrick Coyle v. City of Torrance
- $1.6 Million – Ramirez v. Patterson
- $1.5 Million – Bye v. Louisiana Pacific
- $1.5 Million – Castillo & Perez v. SCRTD
- $1.4 Million – Cohen v. Sports Connection
- $1.3 Million – Charles Davin v. Skyview Limousine Service and Palm Springs Limousine Service
- $1.1 Million – Roger Klier v. Southern Contracting
- See all Verdicts and Settlements
*including attorney fees
Honors and Recognitions:
In 1999, Brian Panish was honored as Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles. He is ranked among the “100 Most Influential Attorneys” in the State of California by the Los Angeles Daily Journal.
This recognition of professional excellence highlighted Brian’s work as lead counsel on the liability action against General Motors. The suit involved a defective fuel system, resulting in burn injuries to four children and two adults. The resulting $4.9 billion verdict is the largest personal injury and product liability verdict in American judicial history.
Previously, the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice selected him as national finalist for Trial Lawyer of the Year in 1990 and 1995. He earned similar recognition from the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles in 1992, 1995 and 1998, when they named him as a finalist for the Trial Lawyer of the Year.
His involvement in high profile cases includes serving as a member of the Plaintiffs Steering Committee in the tryptophan litigation and on the State Fen-Phen Diet Drug Litigation Plaintiff Executive Committee.
Mr. Panish’s published decisions include Johnson v. Pratt & Whitney (1995) 28 Cal.App.4th 613 and Pashaie v. Hollywood Memorial Park (1992) 3 Cal.App.4th 184 and Hecht v. Superior Court.
More Honors & Recognitions:
- 2010 Outstanding Alumni – Fresno State
- 2010 Loyola Law School of Los Angeles, Champions of Justice Awards
- 2010 Trial Lawyer of the Year for the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) – California Chapter
Memberships / Organizations:
Mr. Panish is a member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of California where he sits on the Board of Governors. Brian is a frequent lecturer on all aspects of trial procedure in California and throughout the United States. He served as Co-Chairperson of the Consumer Attorneys of California Annual Lake Tahoe Seminar in 1999 and 2000. Groups he has addressed include: The American Bar Association, Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, Consumer Attorneys of California, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Attorneys Information Exchange Group, Western Trial Lawyers Association, Inner Circle of Advocates, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, and Alabama Trial Lawyers Association.
The following is a list of some of the organizations Mr. Panish is involved in:
- American College of Trial Lawyers
- Super Lawyers
- Martindale Hubbell AV 5 of 5 Peer Rating
- Avvo
- Attorney Information Exchange Group
- Western Trial Lawyers Association
- International Society of Barristers
- American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
- Inner Circle of Advocates – 100 of the Best Plaintiff Lawyers In the U.S.
- Association of Business Trial Lawyers
- Eighth Street Lawyers
Brian Panish in the News:
- What is the value of a poor man’s life?
- Brian Panish addresses The Senate Judiciary Committee
- Brian Panish of Panish Shea & Boyle 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 and Kevin Boyle Talk About Their 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
The following is a list of some of the articles in which Brian Panish is featured:
Brian J. Panish Bio:
- Born Los Angeles, California, April 19, 1958
- Languages: Spanish
- Courts Admitted: U.S. District Court, Central, Southern and Northern Districts of California














