For the second consecutive year, Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorney Deborah S. Chang has been named to the Daily Journal’s list of Top Women Lawyers in California. The coveted West Coast ranking recognizes women lawyers who have made a difference to their clients, their firms, and their profession. “Deborah is a fantastic trial lawyer who consistently delivers some of the best trial results of any lawyer in the state,” says Brian Panish. “Her tremendous energy and experience trying complex cases has been a big contributor to the success of our firm.”
The Daily Journal’s special edition includes an article reflecting on Ms. Chang’s accomplishments and highlights a recent landmark $32.5 million settlement on behalf of two clients who were catastrophically injured and two clients whose father was killed in two collisions on Loma Vista Drive in Beverly Hills, California. For over fifty years, the City of Beverly Hills had known that stretch of road constituted a dangerous condition because its unusual grades are too steep for too long at the top. In 2014, Loma Vista Drive was the site of three accidents within a two-month time frame, including the tragic death of LAPD Detective Ernest Allen Sr. who was killed when a cement truck operated by Plaintiff Brandon Cascio lost its brakes, ran off the road at a sharp curve, and rolled over on top of Detective Allen’s pickup truck. As a result of his injuries, Mr. Cascio is now in a persistent vegetative coma.
Also noted is Ms. Chang’s work on Rosen v. The Regents of the University of California v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County which is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court of California later this year. In Rosen v. The Regents of the University of California, Plaintiff Katherine Rosen was a UCLA pre-med student when she was brutally stabbed by fellow student Damon Thompson while working in a chemistry laboratory on campus. In the months leading up to the attack, the university had treated Mr. Thompson for symptoms indicative of schizophrenia and he had exhibited troublesome behavior that raised red flags. Ms. Rosen filed a negligence action against The Regents of the University of California and several UCLA employees alleging that defendants had breached their duty of care by failing to adopt reasonable measures that would have protected her from Thompson’s foreseeable violent conduct. The Defendants brought a motion for summary judgment, which was denied by the trial court. On appeal, two of the three justices concluded that a public university has no general duty to protect its students from the criminal acts of other students. In a 7-0 decision issued on January 20, 2016, the California Supreme Court granted Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP’s request to review the California Court of Appeal’s decision.
In addition to the cases discussed in the article, Ms. Chang was an integral part of the trial teams in many other recent trials where Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP obtained large verdicts, including Casillas v. Landstar Ranger, Inc. ($34,555,220) named as a Daily Journal Top Verdict by Dollar in 2015, Jun v. Chaffey Joint Union High School District ($20,500,000) and Sheaffer v. NuCO2 ( $17,393,479), which was named a Top Verdict by Impact by Daily Journal in 2015.
To learn more about Deborah Chang and her remarkable career, click here.