Arias

Mikel M. (Mike) Arias is the managing partner of the firm now named Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Team LLP. He founded the shop in 1984 to handle plaintiff-side personal injury cases, employment matters, sexual assaults, mass torts, consumer protection and wrongful death cases.

"I've been busy for a long time, and I love it," Arias said. "The variety and diversity of the stuff I do keeps me fresh."

In June, Arias and colleagues won approval of a $9.95 million settlement with a Nevada school district -- the largest in the district's history -- over the severe physical and emotional abuse of a non-verbal autistic child. J.W. v. Clark County School District, 2:19-cv-00965 (D. Nev., filed June 6, 2019).

"We were able to uncover how they'd tried to sweep this stuff under the rug," Arias said.

The case was another in a long series of sex abuse civil matters that Arias has done, including the $852 million settlement he achieved as co-liaison counsel in the massive George Tyndall USC litigation and the $243.6 million settlement in a similar UCLA case.

The USC deal resulted in a CLAY Award for Arias. Jane Doe 3 et al. v. University of Southern California et al., BC715163 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed July 30, 2018).

"Social impact cases like these usually reveal some underlying problem beyond the individuals involved," he said. "I can guarantee that any special needs child in Clark County will be carefully monitored now that the county realizes the costs of neglect."

Arias is currently monitoring the $4.03 billion settlement before the court in Hawaii over the Maui wildfires; his individual suits on behalf of survivors will be covered by the deal.* In the Matter of the Petition for the Coordination of Maui Fire Cases,* 2CSP-23-0000057 (2d Circ. Ct. of Hawaii, filed Oct. 27, 2023).

A potential holdup as insurance companies seek part of the funds looks like it may be overcome, Arias said.

"First, the carrier can't recover on subrogation unless the client has been made whole, and that is certainly not the case here. And the court has ruled that the insurance companies can't proceed on a mass basis but must challenge the payouts individually."

Arias is proceeding with racial abuse and harassment claims against Tesla, Inc. on behalf of 15 Black former or current factory employees.* Justice et al. v. Tesla, Inc.,* 22CV013603 (Alameda Co. Super. Ct., filed June 30, 2022).

"There's ongoing blatant racism, and Elon Musk doesn't care what goes on at his factories," Arias said.

"Those are three significant pieces of litigation," he added, referring to the sexual abuse, Maui fire and Tesla cases. "They are cases with social importance that will cause defendants to think about how they handle things."

--John Roemer