Brian Panish -

Hot on the heels of Panish Shea & Boyle’s own Brian Panish working tirelessly to secure an $8.3 million verdict for a client who sustained complications after being implanted with the DePuy ASR metal-on-metal hip implant, a California legal publication has just honored Mr. Panish with the coveted “Attorneys of the Year 2012” distinction.

Law.com’s The Recorder profiled Mr. Panish following a series of successful cases last year.  The first of those cases involved a client who was paralyzed after being involved in a serious big rig collision.  Mr. Panish felt that the $250,000 settlement offered by the defense pre-trial failed to do justice to his client, who now requires 24-hour medical care.  He brought the case to trial and was able to obtain a $36.5 million jury verdict, the largest such personal injury decision in the history of Riverside County.

That was just the tip of the iceberg in 2012.  After turning down a $2 million settlement, Mr. Panish was able to secure a $20 million verdict for a woman who had also been injured by a big rig collision, $10 million for a family whose special needs child died on a school bus, and $9 million for an individual who suffered an injury on the job.

When bringing cases such as these to trial, Mr. Panish uses the power of technology to help the jury better understand the situation which befell his clients.  A big proponent of a computer’s ability to demonstrate the facts of a case in a visual, easy-to-understand manner, Mr. Panish employs technology experts in a bid to put together the best case possible.  In the case of the aforementioned Riverside big rig crash case, staff put together an animated recreation of the incident to show exactly what transpired.

These latest trials join a list of more than 100 cases brought to trial by Mr. Panish since he started practicing law upon graduation from Southwestern Law School.  Mr. Panish figures that he secured $300 million in settlements and verdicts last year alone.

The Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal has released its list of the top verdicts of last year, and Panish Shea & Boyle has been featured on the list not once, but twice, for efforts to aid clients in the personal injury legal realm.

First, Brian Panish and Spencer Lucas represented a woman who suffered serious injuries after her vehicle was struck by a truck operated by J.B. Hunt Transport Services.  The collision forced the plaintiff to experience bleeding in the area around the brain, retrograde amnesia, and a concussion.  This left her unable to work, and more than four years on, she still deals with depression and cognitive impairment.

The parties were able to agree to the liability of J.B. Hunt after it was discovered that the driver of the truck had a history of safety issues during his tenure in the trucking industry.  Although Hunt offered to settle for a scant $2 million, the jury eventually handed down a verdict worth $20 million plus attorney fees and punitive damages.  Although Mr. Panish feels the amount could have been higher given the situation the injured party faced, he believes that this decision went a long way toward altering the way the trucking company screens applicants prior to offering employment.

Another precedent was set when Mr. Panish and other lawyers with our firm represented a pair of individuals from India who suffered serious injuries when a Schneider National Carriers Truck attempted to pass their vehicle in an inappropriate manner, leading to a collision.  When the Riverside County jury awarded the pair $36.5 million (and their relative $1.4 million), it became the largest verdict ever issued in the county, and it came from a conservative jury that the defendants believed would not decide in favor of plaintiffs from India.  Mr. Panish explained that facts and evidence can go a long way toward overturning any potential biases or language barriers.

Did DePuy and parent company Johnson & Johnson essentially play a game of Russian Roulette with those persons who became recipients of the DePuy ASR metal on metal hip implant?  That’s what a jury must decide.

Panish Shea & Boyle’s Brian Panish posed that provocative statement during closing arguments which took place yesterday in Los Angeles.  After hearing both sides, jurors must now figure out the level of financial responsibility owed by the medical device company in this case, which could be a bellwether for what future lawsuits can expect to achieve.  This marks the conclusion of the first of thousands of lawsuits which accuse DePuy of putting forth an inferior product that was never properly tested.

Today was to mark the first day of jury deliberations.  Jurors are being asked to decide whether the implantation of the defective DePuy ASR device led the plaintiff, Mr. Loren Kransky, to experience a decline in health.  At trial, Mr. Panish pointed to Australian statistics which showed a whopping 44% failure rate for the device, and an internal analysis from DePuy itself shows an estimated 37% failure rate.  Much has also been made of the device’s propensity to shed metal debris, a condition which the plaintiff argues has caused him to experience metal poisoning.

Mr. Panish asked that the plaintiff receive $5 million for his troubles, and he also believes $179 million in punitive damages should be assessed against the troubled company.  Johnson & Johnson has recalled over 30 items since 2009, the DePuy ASR among them.  750,000 people across the country are thought to have received some kind of all-metal hip implant, but safety concerns have since diminished their popularity.

A trial attempting to determine the level of responsibility Johnson & Johnson should bear in the design and marketing of a defective hip implant is winding to a close, and Brian Panish of Panish Shea & Boyle was there to present closing arguments on behalf of a man injured by the implant.

Mr. Panish has been presenting the case of a retired prison guard named Loren Kransky.  In December 2007, Kranksy was implanted with the DePuy ASR metal on metal hip implant, a device that had to be removed less than five years later.  The lawsuit contends that DePuy both put forth a defectively designed product and failed to notify patients and medical professionals of the risks of using the device.  Testing which could have exposed certain issues wasn’t sufficiently carried out and complaints from surgeons and patients failed to trigger an adequate response from the company.

This sentiment was echoed by Mr. Panish during closing arguments in Los Angeles today.  He argued that defects plagued the item from the moment it arrived on the market, and these defects led to unprecedented rates of injury among patients.  In Australia alone, Mr. Panish cited an astounding 44% failure rate within five years, a number that’s much higher than the original 12% suggested by DePuy.

Mr. Panish argued that the plaintiff is entitled to $5 million for pain and suffering and $338,000 for reimbursement of medical expenses.  To send a message to DePuy, a company which has yet to acknowledge responsibility for this entire episode, Mr. Panish also called upon the jury to force DePuy to pay up to $179 million in punitive damages.

The attorney for Johnson & Johnson argued that the plaintiff’s injuries could not be attributed to a defect in the DePuy ASR device.  With upwards of 10,000 additional lawsuits awaiting trial, it’s now up to the jury to decide whose evidence is more compelling.

Numerous developments continue to arise as a lawsuit filed in conjunction with the DePuy ASR metal on metal hip implant gets addressed at trial.  This past Wednesday, a toxicologist with ChemRisk Inc. took the stand, and Panish Shea & Boyle’s own Brian Panish was there to question him.

DePuy actually hired the toxicologist to conduct research into the effects of heightened levels of cobalt into the bloodstream.  The medical device company has been accused of putting out a product which sheds cobalt and chromium debris when the components of the ASR implant rub against one another.  It’s thought that the absorption of the metal into the bloodstream and the tissue around the implant can lead to blood poisoning and a host of side effects.

The toxicologist, though, disagreed with these assertions, outlining how he and his firm had not been able to turn up evidence that adversity could be expected when cobalt levels rise.  He also explained that the phenomenon wasn’t studied extensively until the DePuy ASR recall.

However, Mr. Panish’s questioning revealed potential bias in the toxicologist’s research.  Although he bristled when accused of being the go-to guy for the industry, the toxicologist then admitted that he had in fact received this description.

Mr. Panish also asked about a Journal of Occupational Health and Environmental Medicine article from 1997.  That article was retracted nine years later, according to the toxicologist, because readers were not told that ChemRisk was responsible for the piece.  At that time, the firm was on retainer with the very companies which were targeted for their role in chromium pollution in a certain area of rural China.  ChemRisk’s article went contrary to research showing a link between chromium pollution and cancer.

What’s more, Mr. Panish outlined how dozens of companies had hired the toxicologist and his firm to conduct research that attempted to contradict studies into the apparent danger posed by benzene, asbestos, and other carcinogens.

Brian Panish has been named a California Lawyer Attorney of the Year by California Lawyer magazine. The CLAY awards are given annually by the magazine to recognize attorneys whose work made a significant impact during the previous year. Attorneys are recognized in 21 areas of legal practice; Panish was selected for a CLAY award in the area of Personal Injury.

In 2012, Panish obtained over $75 million in jury verdicts, including a record $36.5 jury verdict in a case arising from a big-rig truck crash that left a woman catastrophically injured, a $10 million jury verdict in the wrongful death of a 3-year-old boy on a school bus, a $20 million jury verdict in a case involving a hit-and-run big-rig truck crash and a $9.32 million verdict for an injured worker in a case taken on by Panish the week before trial.

You can read more by clicking here.

New evidence continues to show a disconcerting lack of concern on the part of DePuy in regards to the safety of their ASR metal on metal hip implant.  Our own Brian Panish recently questioned a marketing executive with the company during California state court proceedings, and the line of questioning brought some interesting documentation to the attention of the jury.

The aforementioned exec was questioned about a meeting that took place in Chicago in 2007.  A PowerPoint presentation called “What Scares Us The Most in the Year Ahead?” was held during that event, and one such item that fell into that category was metal ion backlash.

Indeed, heightened levels of metal entering the bloodstream as a result of the two components of the ASR rubbing together have concerned many in the healthcare community.  The threat that this metal poses to the patient is but one of the issues brought to the forefront by a lawsuit filed by Mr. Loren Kransky.  He and many others were subject to a medical device which an internal study shows will fail in approximately 35.8% of cases after 4.57 years.  Correction requires a painful revision surgery.

When asked by Mr. Panish if backlash over metal ion levels was a threat, the marketing executive concurred.  He also stated that malpositioning could lead to the excessive shedding of metal debris.  And in a video shot in 2008, this same executive was shown to be promoting the DePuy ASR product at a sales meeting in New Orleans.  He himself agreed that this occurred after numerous red flags about the product came in to the company.  Jurors saw this video, as well as emails from a DePuy engineer which further detail the possibility of excessive metal ion levels and the effect that data illustrating such could have on business.

The National Law Journal (NLJ) has recognized Panish Shea & Boyle LLP as among the leading plaintiffs’ law firms in the country in its annual “Plaintiffs’ Hot List”. Only 19 law firms nationwide were chosen for the honor, and Panish Shea & Boyle is only firm on the list that is headquartered in Southern California.

According to the NLJ article published October 1, 2012, the selected firms “have done exemplary, cutting-edge work on the plaintiffs side” and “possessed an impressive track record of wins within the past three to five years” including one win between June 30, 2011, and July 1, 2012.

In the article, the NLJ highlights some of the firm’s significant victories since 2011, including a $17.845 million award in a wrongful death case involving four family members killed when a Marine jet crashed into their home, a $17 million jury verdict against the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the wrongful death of a visually impaired passenger, a $36.5 million jury verdict against Schneider National for a big-rig crash that left a woman with severe spinal cord injuries, and 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.

“Ensuring that our clients get the compensation and justice that they deserve is what motivates us,” said firm Partner Brian Panish. “We are proud that The National Law Journal has chosen to recognize the firm for its accomplishments over the past year.”

Panish Shea & Boyle LLP, located in Los Angeles, California, represents plaintiffs in wrongful death, catastrophic personal injury, class action, and business litigation cases. Panish Shea & Boyle LLP was also named to the NLJ’s Plaintiff’s Hot List in 2005.

You can view the full press release by clicking here.

You can read the full National Law Journal article by clicking here.

Brian Panish has been named by the Daily Journal as one of California’s Top 100 Lawyers of 2012. The list is a compilation of California attorneys “who moved the needle” and “had an impact on the legal industry, the state, the nation and the world”. Over 1000 attorneys were considered for the honor. In recognizing Mr. Panish, the Daily Journal cited to his $17 million jury verdict against the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority 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 San Diego home, and his recent $36.5 million verdict on behalf of a married couple who were injured when the car in which they were passengers was hit by a Schneider National semi-truck.

Click here to view the article.

Panish Shea & Boyle LLP was a gold sponsor of Southwestern Law School’s sold-out Judges Tribute Dinner held on February 24 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Brian Panish, a Southwestern graduate, served as the event’s Master of Ceremonies and was also Chair of the Judges Tribute Dinner Committee.

More than 700 guests attended the event, which honored the more than 450 Southwestern alumni who have served as judicial officers. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor gave the keynote address.

The dinner raised over $85,000 for a newly established scholarship fund which was established to commemorate the service of three Southwestern alumni who have served on the California Supreme Court.

Panish Shea & Boyle Gold Sponsors