Irvine, CA

Brian Panish

One of the country’s leading trial attorneys, Brian Panish has obtained some of the most significant jury verdicts in United States history on behalf of plaintiffs. His courtroom victories include a $4.9 billion record verdict in the landmark products liability case Anderson v. General Motors, and over thirty verdicts and settlements in excess of $10 million in personal injury, car accident, wrongful death and business litigation cases. He also has obtained more than 250 verdicts and settlements over $1 million dollars. Mr. Panish has obtained three jury verdicts in excess of $50 million in personal injury cases - more than any other attorney in California. No other attorney in California has more 8-figure verdicts than Brian Panish. Since 2011 alone, Mr. Panish has obtained more than $225 million in verdicts, including, among others, a $36.5 million jury verdict against Schneider National for a big-rig crash that left a woman with severe spinal cord injuries, a $34.5 million verdict for a man who suffered a below the knee amputation after being hit by a tractor trailer, a $17.4 million verdict for a Ph.D. student who suffered brain and jaw injuries during a rear end chain collision accident, a $17 million jury verdict against the Los Angeles MTA in the wrongful death of a visually impaired passenger, a $17.845 million award in a wrongful death case involving four family members killed when a Marine jet crashed into their home, a $20 million jury verdict for a woman who suffered a brain injury in a hit-and-run accident involving a J.B. Hunt tractor trailer, a $17 million jury verdict for a 84-year old man hit by a bus resulting in a leg amputation, a $15.3 million jury verdict for a woman and her daughter after the woman was severely injured on a negligently driven Alameda Contra-Costa Transit District bus, a $10.45 million jury verdict for the family of a security guard killed on the CBS studio lot and a $8.3 million jury verdict in the first DePuy ASR Hip Implant case to go to trial. Because of his expertise in personal injury, wrongful death and product liability cases, Mr. Panish has been appointed to serve on the Plaintiffs’ Steering and Executive committees in numerous high profile mass torts and major disaster cases, including litigation involving train crashes (co-lead counsel in the the Chatsworth Metrolink disaster, the Glendale Metrolink crash, and the Placentia Metrolink collision), airplane disasters (Alaska Airlines Flight 261 and Singapore Airlines Flight 006 crashes), pharmaceuticals (Vioxx and diet drugs), and defective product cases (Welding Rods, DePuy ASR Hip Implant Litigation, and Toyota Unintended Acceleration cases.) He is currently handling numerous cases involving the Asiana Flight 261 plane crash. Mr. Panish has been recognized by numerous publications and organizations as being among the top trial lawyers in the country. Some of the honors he has received include the following: National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame - 2015, 2016 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year - Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Litigation - Los Angeles, 2015 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year - Product Liability Litigation - Los Angeles, 2015 Top 25 Plaintiff’s Lawyers in California - by the Daily Journal, 2014 Consumer Attorney of the Year - awarded by the Consumer Attorneys of California, 2013 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award in the area of Personal Injury, The National Law Journal’s 100 Most Influential Lawyers In America, Daily Journal’s Top 100 Most Influential Attorneys in California, 2012 Top 20 Lawyers in California by The Recorder, 2010 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the California Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), 2010 Champions of Justice award from Loyola Law School, 2010 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year - Product Liability Litigation - Los Angeles, 2009 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year - Personal Injury Litigation - Los Angeles, 1999 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles (CAALA), Top 500 Attorneys and Litigators in the United States by Law Dragon, Top 10 Southern California Super Lawyers® (various years, including from 2009-2015), Listed in Best Lawyers® since 2001, Listed in Southern California Super Lawyers® since 2004. In addition to his numerous honors, Mr. Panish is a member of the prestigious Inner Circle of Advocates, comprised of 100 of the nation’s top plaintiffs’ lawyers. He is also a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers (including serving on the State Selection Committee), the International Society of Barristers, the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), and was the 2011 President of the Los Angeles Chapter of ABOTA. He is a member of the American Bar Association (formerly a Litigation Section Board Member), the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (formerly on the Board of Governors), and the Consumer Attorneys of California (formerly on the Board of Governors). He also serves on the Best Lawyers® Board of Advisors. Mr. Panish received his law degree, with honors, from Southwestern Law School, and received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Southwestern in 2011. He received his B.S. from California State University Fresno, where he was named Scholar Athlete, was the recipient of the Athletic Directors Award and was named an outstanding alumnus at the school’s Centennial Celebration in 2010.

Jason Edward Ochs

Jason Edward Ochs is the general and managing partner of the Ochs Law Firm. He began his legal career in 2002 focusing on complex product liability, catastrophic injuries, and medical malpractice. He refined his trial skills at the Orange County District Attorney’s office from 2006, and later led the injury litigation department at a Southern California firm before founding Ochs Law Firm in 2012. He is licensed in California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, and Wyoming. He has served as lead trial counsel in pharmaceutical, medical, and class action cases, including the country’s largest restaurant food-poisoning outbreak and the nationwide opioid epidemic litigation. He has been recognized as a Top 100 Lawyer in California by the National Trial Lawyers Association, a Rising Super Star Lawyer by Los Angeles Magazine and Orange Coast Magazine since 2012, and a Superlawyer in the Mountain States.

Rahul Ravipudi

Rahul Ravipudi is a partner at Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP and has spent his legal career handling catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases involving pedestrians, commercial vehicles, industrial or construction accidents, and dangerous conditions of public and private property and represents survivors of sexual abuse and sexual assault. Mr. Ravipudi also represents consumers in class actions against businesses who engage in unfair/illegal business practices and he represents public entities in cases where corporations have endangered the safety, health, property or comfort of the public. Currently, Mr. Ravipudi serves as Public Entities Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel in the JUUL Labs Product Cases, representing school districts and other public entities throughout California, in litigation against e-cigarette manufacturer JUUL Labs, Inc. Named 2017 Trial Lawyer of the Year by Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, Mr. Ravipudi has obtained numerous landmark results including a $28,500,000+ settlement for a special needs student who was catastrophically injured after being struck by a vehicle while under the care and supervision of Victor Elementary School District (VESD) personnel, a $23,500,000 settlement on behalf of the family of 19-year-old Paul Lee, a 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, and an $11,000,000+ settlement for the family of Alex Pierce, a 13-year-old Murrieta middle school student who tragically drowned while under the supervision of Murrieta Valley Unified School District (MVUSD) staff and personnel. Mr. Ravipudi also recovered $9 million from the State of California (Caltrans) when a 16 year old girl on a restricted license lost control of her vehicle and collided into a guardrail damaged two days earlier resulting in a bilateral traumatic below knee amputations. This case involved significant appellate issues which led to Mr. Ravipudi’s article, “Dealing with the state of California’s first line of defense - stonewalling any meaningful discovery” published in The Advocate, Journal of Consumer Attorneys for California, February 2009. Mr. Ravipudi has also successfully recovered over eight figures against stevedoring companies in the City of Long Beach who allow their longshoremen to recklessly injure and kill independent truck drivers. Mr. Ravipudi shared his insight into successfully litigating cases against the stevedoring companies in an article entitled, “Danger on the Docks - Where there is an injury or death, drugs or alcohol probably were involved” published in The Advocate, Journal of Consumer Attorneys for California, February 2011. Prior to joining Panish Shea & Boyle, Rahul Ravipudi worked at another consumer law firm where his work helped recover over $4 billion for his clients. Mr. Ravipudi participated as co-lead class counsel in a consumer class action case brought on behalf of all gas and electricity rate payers in the State of California against El Paso Natural Gas Company and Sempra Energy. This case arose out of the California Energy Crisis of 2000/2001 and resulted in the recovery of more than $3.5 billion in restitution to California utility customers. To date, this is recognized as one of the largest antitrust settlements in American history. Mr. Ravipudi also participated as co-lead counsel on an antitrust class action case brought on behalf of all gas and electricity rate payers in California against Reliant Energy Services and other energy traders for manipulating the California natural gas market by engaging in wash trades, churning, and false reporting. Hundreds of millions of dollars were recovered for rate payers of the State of California as well. Since 2005, Mr. Ravipudi has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by California Law & Politics magazine - an honor awarded to the top 2.5% of lawyers in the Southern California area under 40 years of age. In 2010, Mr. Ravipudi was profiled in the California Law & Politics magazine in an article entitled “Class Act(ion)”. He is a frequent speaker on various issues, including class action litigation and trial tactics, and In 2016, Mr. Ravipudi was recognized for his work on Jun v. Chaffery Joint Union High School District when he was chosen as a finalist for both the CAOC’s Consumer Attorney of the Year award as well as a CAALA’s Trial Lawyer of the Year. Mr. Ravipudi actively publishes articles in various journals and trade publications and is an Associate Editor for The Advocate, Journal of Consumer Attorneys for California. He continues to be an active member of the Consumer Attorneys of California, the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, and the South Asian Bar Association. Mr. Ravipudi is actively involved in matters of public interest as well. He has been the Treasurer of the South Asian Bar Association Public Interest Foundation. He is also an active supporter of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He is also actively involved in local, statewide and national bar associations and public interest groups. Mr. Ravipudi serves as the Board of Governor for the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), Litigation Chair for the North American South Asian Bar Association (SABA), board member for the Loyola Law School Advocacy Institute and an honorary board member for the Los Angeles Trial Lawyer Charities (LATLC). In addition, Mr. Ravipudi is an associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and is a member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of California as well as a member of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers. Mr. Ravipudi received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Minor in Chemistry from the University of California, Riverside and his law degree from Loyola Law School where he has served as an adjunct professor teaching Trial Advocacy since 2008. Mr. Ravipudi resides in La Canada Flintridge with his wife and three sons.

Gregory G. Brown

Brown & Charbonneau, LLP Founding Partner Gregory G. Brown is a Certified Specialist in Civil Trial Advocacy (a distinction earned by approximately 150 lawyers in California). A highly awarded and sought-after trial lawyer for more than 30 years, Brown is a member of The American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and has been selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers® each year since 2009. Nationally, Brown has been named to Best Lawyers’ annual list of the “Best Lawyers in America,” and locally, he’s been named a Top Attorney in Orange County by Orange County Metro. He has earned an AV-Preeminent rating by Martindale-Hubbell, and an Avvo rating of “Superb 10/10”. Brown was named “Attorney of the Year” and was featured as one of the “Leaders in Law” by Forbes Magazine. He has been named to the prestigious Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers since 1997. His trial and litigation experience includes contract actions, fraud cases, trade secret litigation, trust litigation, commercial contract disputes, intellectual property disputes, unfair competition, false advertising, shareholder derivative actions, corporate litigation, complex dissolution actions, real estate & construction, personal injury and professional liability suits. He speaks regularly on legal issues and has served as an instructor and judge for the Orange County Bar Association College of Trial Advocacy. He has written dozens of articles and serves as a Mediator and Arbitrator.

Joseph Lyon

Joseph Lyon is the founding partner of The Lyon Firm, which he formed in 2006. Over the past 20 years, Joe has developed a national class action and product liability practice working with firms throughout the country on notable medical device, pharmaceutical, data security, and privacy class action cases. He has been appointed as lead class counsel in State and Federal Consumer Class Actions and has worked alongside leadership in pharmaceutical and medical device mass tort cases.

James J. Yukevich

In his 30 years of legal experience starting in the Bronx, New York District Attorney’s Office where he prosecuted violent felons and murderers to Partner in a major New York Firm, to Acting General Counsel in a major international corporation, to starting his own law firm in Los Angeles, California in 1995, Jim Yukevich has done it all. With over 100 jury trials in venues across the United States, many lasting over 2 months, Mr. Yukevich has earned a reputation in the legal community as an honest, trustworthy, and tenacious litigator and trial lawyer. He is known for his keen ability to cross-examine opposing expert witnesses, and construct complex factual, scientific, and legal issues into unambiguous and straightforward narratives for both judges and jurors. Mr. Yukevich fears no judge, opposing counsel, courtroom, or complicated case. A skilled negotiator, he delivers optimal results for his clients in mediations and settlement discussions. If attempts at resolution fail, he has repeatedly tried and won the most difficult and challenging cases. In contested liability cases, Mr. Yukevich has achieved an impressive win rate, exceeding 90%, and has acted as regional and national coordinating counsel for Fortune 500 companies. His courtroom successes have been recognized among the Top 20 Defense Verdicts each year from 2009-2015; 2017-2019; and 2024. Over 25 years ago, Mr. Yukevich founded his Firm with the clear goal of providing each client a special level of service and outstanding results in civil litigation defense-this simple commitment to highly personalized expertise remains at the core of Yukevich | Cavanaugh today.

Jeffrey A. Milman

Jeffrey A. Milman, founding and managing partner, is a seasoned medical products, mass torts and personal injury trial lawyer serving clients nationally as well as throughout California. Jeff is our law firm’s resident authority on medical malpractice litigation against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under the Federal Tort Claims Act. He currently is lead counsel in a number of such cases pending against the VA. Jeff is an expert trial litigator with extensive courtroom experience handling medical and professional negligence, product liability with an emphasis on personal injury cases and medical devices including pain pumps and hip replacements. He was appointed liaison counsel for hundreds of pain pump cases recently coordinated under a JCCP in the Orange County Superior Court. Jeff has successfully litigated hundreds of cases that were resolved either by jury verdict, arbitration award or settlement. He has won many large financial verdicts, including, at the time, record setting verdicts in Orange County history for a splenectomy case and a soft-tissue injury in a motor vehicle case. He is the past president of the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association and is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Additionally, Jeff has written numerous articles on medical and medical-legal issues that have been published in law journals statewide and nationally. He is also an instructor for the Orange County Bar Association’s College of Trial Advocacy and a frequent speaker for bar associations and other professional organizations on various medical and medical-legal topics.