Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP

$135M

Sexual Assault, Criminal Defense

PSR attorneys Spencer Lucas, Brian Panish, Matthew Freeman, and Diana Panish obtained a $135,000,000 jury verdict in Riverside County for two former Moreno Valley Unified School District students who were sexually abused by their teacher and failed by the school district entrusted to protect them. For 20 years, the Moreno Valley Unified School District employed child predator Thomas Lee West as a teacher, despite having actual notice of numerous child molestation complaints against him dating back to 1988. Plaintiffs Brady Blair and Justin McGregor attended Vista Heights Middle School and were assigned to West’s sixth grade classroom during the 1996 to 1997 school year. Before the end of the school year, West was sexually abusing both Brady and Justin and the abuse continued into the boys’ Sophomore year in high school. When the sexual abuse ended, West maintained his control over the boys through coercion, threats, and computer tracking and keylogging software, manipulating them from reporting their abuse. In 2003 following the boys’ high school graduation, Brady reported the abuse to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. West was arrested and charged with violations of Penal Code section 288(a) committing “any lewd or lascivious act” with a minor child under 14 years of age. At the criminal trial, West was found guilty. He is currently serving a 52 years to life sentence in the Mule Creek State Prison. As a result of the abuse, Brady and Justin have suffered severe, life-long mental and emotional distress throughout their lives. The psychological effects of the severe and pervasive abuse have left both men shells of who they would have been but for the abuse made possible by the District.

$26M

Sexual Assault

Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorneys David Rudorfer and Wyatt Vespermann have obtained a $26,000,000 jury verdict in Los Angeles County for a former Pasadena Unified School District special education student who was sexually assaulted at school by three of her male classmates. Plaintiff was also represented in the matter by co-counsel, Sheri E. Manuwal and Robert I. Manuwal of Manuwal & Manuwal.

$24

Wrongful Death, Government Liability

In May 2017, Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorneys Brian Panish, Rahul Ravipudi and Robert Glassman obtained a landmark $23,500,000 settlement on behalf of the family of a 19-year-old non-verbal autistic student who tragically died aboard a Whittier school bus after the driver left him behind to engage in a sexual tryst with a coworker. The Plaintiffs were also represented in the case by Sang “Nathan” Yun of the Yun Law Firm. On the morning of September 11, 2015, Hun Joon “Paul” Lee boarded a Pupil Transportation Cooperative (PTC) school bus carrying two additional special needs students and traveled to Sierra Vista Adult School in Whittier, California. The driver, Armando Ramirez, distracted by text messages from his lover, failed to ensure that Paul had exited the bus at his destination. Mr. Ramirez then returned the bus to the yard, oblivious to the fact that the nearly six-foot and over 300 pound young man was still aboard, and quickly exited to meet his lover for a sexual tryst without first performing his required child check and post-trip sweep of the bus. When Paul failed to return home from school, his mother notified the Whittier Union High School District and his lifeless body was found inside the sweltering school bus. Text messages and deposition testimony from the bus driver and his lover confirm that while the two were engaged in their affair, Paul remained trapped on the parked bus for hours, unable to escape on one of the hottest days of the year.

$21

Wrongful Death, Auto Accident, Government Liability

On July 30, 2015, Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorneys Rahul Ravipudi, Deborah Chang, Tom Schultz and Matthew Stumpf obtained a $20,500,000 jury verdict for the mother of a high school student who was killed while walking to a bus stop in Fontana, California. The verdict followed the trial court’s finding that the Chaffey Joint Union School District hid evidence in an attempt to avoid responsibility for the tragic collision. On December 6, 2010, 15-year old student, Jin Ouk Burnham was walking to a school bus stop that required him to cross an uncontrolled, five-lane highway in violation of state law when he was hit by a vehicle whose driver said she did not see him. He died 15 days later. During the litigation, the School District hid evidence and misrepresented facts regarding the location of the available bus stops, resulting in significant issue sanctions being ordered by the trial judge. Despite the School District’s attempt to place blame for the accident on Jin and the driver, the San Bernardino Superior Court jury assigned 100% liability for the accident on the School District. During closing arguments, the School District’s attorney claimed that the relationship between Jin and his mother, who had finalized his adoption a year before his death, was worth only $1,500,000. “Although the school district attempted to cover up what happened, we fought for the truth and the truth prevailed.” said attorney Rahul Ravipudi.

$16

Wrongful Death, Personal Injury

Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP partner Robert Glassman and firm attorney Erika Contreras have obtained a $15,750,000 settlement from the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District for the mother of 13-year-old Adilene Carrasco who suffered an asthma attack at school and died as a result of the district’s failure to follow its own safety protocols. This is believed to be the largest asthma-related death settlement in California.

$11

Wrongful Death, Government Liability

Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorneys Brian Panish, Rahul Ravipudi and Robert Glassman represented Sabrina and Rodriquez Pierce against the Murrieta Valley Unified School District following the wrongful death of their son, Alex, a 7th grade student who drowned in June 2016 while participating in a school sponsored end-of-year swim party with his classmates. The students were under the direct supervision of Murrieta Valley Unified School District staff and personnel who chaperoned the outing as well as Murrieta Valley High School student lifeguards who were “on duty” watching over the kids as they swam. As children swam around him, 13-year-old Alex slipped under the water and to the bottom of the pool where he remained for nearly two minutes with no rescue efforts by lifeguards, school district faculty or personnel. Instead, it was Alex’s classmates who made rescue efforts to retrieve him as no other school district faculty or personnel dove into the water to assist. The on-site lifeguards did not perform CPR on Alex, which allowed precious minutes to pass before he was attended to by paramedics from the Murrieta Fire Department. Alex was taken to a nearby hospital and, due to the severity of his injuries, he was airlifted to a second hospital where he was placed on life support and in a coma for more than 30 days until he was declared brain dead during a final test by doctors.