Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP is proud to announce that the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) have selected two of the firm’s landmark cases and seven PSBR attorneys among the finalists for its top annual award, the Consumer Attorney of the Year. The honor is awarded to a CAOC member or members who significantly advanced the rights or safety of California consumers by achieving a noteworthy result in a case. A total of six cases were selected as finalists for Consumer Attorney of the Year consideration, with the winner to be announced in November of this year.
Brian Panish and Pete Kaufman of Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP, as well as attorneys Michael A. Kelly, John H. Gomez, Khaldoun A. Baghdadi, Matthew D. Davis, Valerie N. Rose, Brian Devine, Ken Seeger and Dean A. Goetz, were recognized for their landmark $8,338,116 jury verdict in Kransky, et al., v. DePuy, Inc., et al which was affirmed on appeal in July 2016. Plaintiff Loren Kransky, who passed away while the appeal was pending, received a DePuy ASR model hip implant that had to be replaced after he began to suffer hip pain, difficulty in walking and elevated levels of metal ions in his blood. The ASR implants were recalled in August 2010 after they showed a higher than expected rate of failure. The Kransky case was the first DePuy ASR case in the country to go to trial, and the verdict was believed to play a large part in the decision by DePuy to reach a global resolution in the litigation.
Rahul Ravipudi, Deborah Chang, Tom Schultz, Matthew Stumpf, Jake Douglass and Brian Panish were recognized for their landmark $160,500,000 jury verdict obtained for a business professional who suffered a traumatic brain injury following a vicious beating by security personnel at a nightclub and as a result, lost his livelihood. Throughout the litigation, Defendants disputed liability and damages, which were particularly complex because of Plaintiff’s substantial loss of earnings capacity claim. The jury returned a verdict for Plaintiff on every theory of liability – battery, assault, false imprisonment, and negligence/excessive force and also made a finding that punitive damages were warranted. The parties reached a confidential settlement after the jury began deliberating on the amount of the punitive damages award.
For a full list of 2017 finalists, or to read the CAOC press release in its entirety, click here.