Tom Schultz
Tom Schultz has been an attorney for over twenty years, focusing his practice on representing plaintiffs in a variety of complex civil cases involving claims of personal injury, financial loss, product liability and pharmaceutical related injuries.
Prior to joining Panish Shea & Boyle LLP, Mr. Schultz was a Deputy District Attorney in the Major Fraud Unit of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, where, for two years, he handed primarily complex criminal economic fraud cases.
Mr. Schultz developed his skills as a plaintiff’s lawyer under the tutelage of the late David M. Harney, a former past President of the International Academy of Trial lawyers and widely regarded as one of the greatest trial lawyers of his generation. After working for Mr. Harney for eight years, Mr. Schultz moved to Newport Beach, California, where he became a partner in a nationally recognized law firm, Lopez, Hodes, Restaino, Skikos & Polos. During his career as a plaintiff’s attorney, Mr. Schultz has represented over 3000 clients and has obtained approximately $400 million dollars in settlements and verdicts on behalf of his clients.
Some of the noteworthy cases that Mr. Schultz was the primary handling lawyer for and successfully resolved are as follows:
- Claims against Sulzer Orthopedics, arising out of their defective hip implants, involving approximately 120 clients.
- Claims against Eli Lilly, arising out of diabetes related injuries and deaths from the anti-psychotic medication Zyprexa, involving approximately 2300 clients.
- Claims against Johnson & Johnson, arising out of blood clots, strokes and deaths from the birth control patch, Ortho Evra, involving approximately 190 clients.
- Claims against Kaiser, arising out of injuries and deaths from kidney transplant victims, involving approximately 70 clients.
- Claims against Ford and Firestone, arising out of tire failures and vehicle roll-overs, resulting in injuries and deaths, involving approximately 50 clients.
- Claims against Redding Medical Center and certain cardiologists and cardiac surgeons, arising out of unnecessary heart procedures, resulting in injuries involving approximately 20 clients.
- Claims against Guidant and Medtronic involving injuries and deaths related to their defective cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers, on behalf of approximately 150 clients.
Mr. Schultz graduated from Loyola Law School in 1990 and obtained his undergraduate degree from UCLA in 1987. He resides in Newport Beach, California, with his wife, Alexandra, and his three children, Andrew, a freshman at his alma mater, UCLA, Christian, a freshman at Corona del Mar High School and their recent edition, baby Elliot, born in April of 2010. Mr. Schultz enjoys family, friends and golf.
