Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP partner Kevin Boyle has been named by Best Lawyers as the 2017 “Lawyer of the Year” for Los Angeles in the area of Plaintiffs’ Product Liability Litigation. This distinct honor recognizes the individual attorney in a geographic location who receives the highest overall peer-feedback in a specific practice area.
After completing a prestigious clerkship for United States Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, Mr. Boyle chose to pursue a career representing plaintiffs in injury and wrongful death cases rather than large corporations. Mr. Boyle is known for his work handling cases arising from major transit disasters, including airplane and train crashes, as well as in other complex product liability and injury cases.
Mr. Boyle’s significant victories include a $13.65 million settlement against Boeing and four other companies for two United States soldiers who were severely injured when their helicopter crashed in Iraq, a $17.85 million award for a man whose wife, two daughters and mother-in-law were tragically killed when an improperly maintained Marine jet crashed into their San Diego home, a $19.8 million jury verdict for a man who was seriously injured when his rental home exploded into flames as a result of gas company negligence and a $27.5 million record jury verdict for the wrongful death of a 4-year-old girl killed in an accident caused by a negligent San Francisco employee. Mr. Boyle also served leading roles in the Chatsworth Metrolink train crash disaster litigation in which Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP obtained in excess of $33 million in awards for its clients.
More recently, Mr. Boyle settled a case against Boeing after the main rotor mast on an Apache Longbow helicopter came apart and struck two South Carolina Army National Guard pilots in the cockpit, killing one pilot and causing a traumatic brain injury to the other, as well as a wrongful death case involving a helicopter that crashed during the filming of a Discovery Channel reality show.
Currently, Mr. Boyle represents multiple plaintiffs in lawsuits against Olympus America, Inc. in relation to the CRE “Superbug” infection that has affected many across the nation, including filing the first complaint against the company on behalf of an 18-year-old young man who was infected with CRE when he underwent multiple procedures with a contaminated Olympus duodenoscope at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Mr. Boyle also represents numerous plaintiffs in connection with the February 24, 2015 Metrolink train crash in Oxnard, CA that injured 30 people when the commuter train slammed into a truck that had turned onto the railroad tracks and was unable to move.
Throughout his career, Mr. Boyle has been consistently recognized for his excellent work representing plaintiffs. He was named one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California by the Los Angeles Daily Journal and has been selected as a Super Lawyer every year since 2007. He has been profiled as one of The Best Lawyers in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Times and has been honored as a Finalist for the Consumer Attorneys of California’s Trial Lawyer of the Year.
In addition to holding an AV ranking from Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest ranking a lawyer can attain in terms of ability and ethics, Mr. Boyle is listed in the Marquis Who’s Who in America, Marquis Who’s Who in American Law, and Marquis Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders. He is also a member of the Amicus Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and serves on the Boards of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Board of Trial Lawyers and the Law College Association of the University of Arizona.
After graduating Vanderbilt University, Mr. Boyle studied law at the University of Arizona where he finished law school first in his class, served as the Business Editor of the Arizona Law Review, and published an article concerning manufacturers’ duties to retrofit defective products before they cause further injury.