Brian J. Panish

Following a five-week trial in 2013, Panish won an affirmance in July in the 2nd District Court of Appeal of his $8.3 million jury verdict for client Loren Kransky over the defective design of a hip implant. The award will come with an additional $2.7 million in interest, Panish said. The verdict was significant because it was a bellwether that set the scene for some 20,000 other cases that later settled for about $4 billion. "It's nice to win and nice that now they have to pay," Panish said. "Unfortunately, Mr. Kransky died while the appeal was in progress. The money will go to his spouse." Kransky v. DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., B249576 (Cal. App. 2nd Dist. July 21, 2016).

Meanwhile, Panish is co-lead trial counsel and was part of the team that filed the first individual lawsuit and class action against Southern California Gas Co. on behalf of Porter Ranch residents forced to relocate from their homes due to the October 2015 gas well blowout at the Aliso Canyon Storage Facility. "Many of those who have returned to the Porter Ranch community continue to experience symptoms similar to those they experienced during the leak," Panish said. "We have begun discovery in the case." Porter Ranch Gas Well Blowout Litigation, BC604099 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 7, 2015).

Panish obtained a $4.75 million settlement in April 2016 for the parents of 21-year-old student athlete Ted Agu in a wrongful death lawsuit. In 2014, Agu died during a preseason conditioning drill with his UC Berkeley football team. Panish argued that Agu died because of the reckless and negligent behavior of football trainers and coaches who subjected him to a lethal conditioning drill despite his known sickle cell trait and then failed to immediately come to his aid while he was in distress. "Since that happened, the university's athletic director, the chancellor and the vice chancellor are all gone. So is the strength coach," Panish said, denying he linked his case directly to their departures. "I just [know] they are not there anymore." He said the settlement contained stipulations that Berkeley would improve its procedures for football practices and so-called punishment drills. "Good changes," he said. Agu v. The Regents of the University of California, RG1473558 (Alameda Super. Ct., filed Aug. 6, 2014).

Ongoing is Panish's claims against Olympus America Inc. over CRE superbug infections linked to the manufacturer's allegedly defective duodenoscope. The suit includes claims for negligence, product liability, fraud, and intentional misrepresentation. Panish was the first to file in the case of an 18-year-old man infected by bacteria in the carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae family when he underwent multiple procedures with a contaminated scope. "A huge case," Panish said. "This company knew its scope was defective and warned its European customers but made a conscious decision not to warn its U.S. customers." Panish said he expects a trial will be set for early 2017. Young v. Olympus America Inc., BC573399 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 23, 2015).

— John Roemer