Nicholas W. Yoka
Nicholas W. Yoka is a trial attorney with Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP and focuses his practice on civil rights and complex personal injury cases. He has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers and named to Best Lawyers in America – One’s to Watch.
Mr. Yoka has handled a number of high-profile cases and since joining the firm, he has helped to recover over $100 million in settlements and verdicts on behalf of our clients. Some of Mr. Yoka’s most notable results include:
- Guardado v. County of L.A. – Mr. Yoka was the lead handling attorney is this matter that resulted in obtaining an $8,000,000 settlement for the family of 18-year-old Andres Guardado who was shot in the back five times by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy.
- Troupe v. Pavestone LLC – In Maricopa County, Arizona, a jury awarded a $5,000,000 verdict + punitive damages for the parents of a 22-year-old man killed by a big rig whose driver had fallen asleep at the wheel and rear-ended the SUV driven by decedent.
- Michael Green v. Mohamad Navab – Los Angeles County jury awarded a $2,764,982 verdict and found 100% liability on the defendant for a 29-year-old man who had his foot run over in a crosswalk and developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).
- Doe v. Doe – Obtained an eight-figure confidential settlement for a woman who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury after being struck by a vehicle while riding a bicycle.
In 2019. Mr. Yoka was appointed to serve as a Trustee on the Board of Trustees for the University of California, Hastings College of the Law where he is currently serving a second, three-year term in that position. He has also served as chair and co-chair on a number of committees and was recently appointed as Treasurer and chair of the Finance Committee. Mr. Yoka previously served on the Rutter Group Selection Committee to review and select the professor to receive the prestigious Rutter Group award.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Yoka had the honor to serve as a judicial extern to the Honorable William Alsup, United States District Court, Northern District of California. In his first year out of law school, he worked as a defense attorney where he represented several motor vehicle companies and some of the nation’s largest insurance companies.
A member of the State Bar of California and an active member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, Mr. Yoka received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law where he graduated with Pro Bono Society Honors for his volunteer legal service to the community and for his time spent volunteering at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights assisting people who were seeking asylum in the United States. While in law school, Mr. Yoka was a member of the Hastings Moot Court Team and a Senior Articles Editor for the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. He was also a Certified Law Clerk for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, where he split time between the Major Crimes Division and the Preliminary Hearings Division.
Mr. Yoka graduated magna cum laude from The George Washington University with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Philosophy, and was accepted and studied for three semesters as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Oxford, St. Anne’s College in the Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) Department. While studying at the University of Oxford, Mr. Yoka received First Class Honors for his work in the field of Social Policy. He was also a member of the Oxford Law Society and the Oxford Student Union.