Mike Arias

Los Angeles • Personal Injury, Sexual Assault & Harassment, Employment Law & Class Action

Mike Arias is the managing partner at Arias Sanguinetti, a law firm focusing on a range of areas, including Personal Injury, Employment Law, Class Action, and Consumer Protection. With a career spanning four decades, Arias has gained recognition for securing substantial verdicts and settlements, particularly in personal injury and class action matters.

Arias's legal prowess is evident in cases like the wage and hour class action against Lithographix, Inc., where he secured a tentative $8 million settlement for employees who were denied their rightful dues. Luis Joel Pineda, Robert Loveland, et al. v. Lithographix, Inc., BC612372 (L.A. Sup. Ct., filed March 2, 2016).

Another landmark case involved a record-breaking $852 million settlement against the University of Southern California (USC) and George Tyndall, achieving justice for 710 plaintiffs who suffered sexual abuse. In this case, Arias acted as co-liaison counsel, ensuring each survivor's voice was heard and fighting for legislative change to support all survivors. Jane Doe 3 et al. v. University of Southern California et al., BC715163 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed July 30, 2018).

The challenges Arias faced were multifaceted.

"In the USC case, I wanted to give every woman the opportunity to tell her story. This was complicated by the current statute of limitations in California for sexual abuse," Arias said. "Through intense lobbying and legislative work, we were able to open a specific SOL that would encompass all the survivors that we were aware of (CA Bill AB1510). I am extremely proud to have been a part of this legislative change and am optimistic that as more statutes open across the country, more survivors will have access to justice."

Arias identifies emerging trends, such as the integration of artificial intelligence in the legal field.

"With the current state of technology, I would be wary of using it to complete most legal tasks," Arias said. "However, there are artificial intelligence-based tools that can currently be used to summarize medical records, identify inconsistencies in deposition transcripts, and other time-consuming tasks that our staff undertakes. As technology continues to improve and garner more trust and with the proper security measures in place, we can protect our clients' data while simultaneously reducing our costs -- allowing more clients to obtain the justice that they deserve."