Rahul Ravipudi is a partner at Panish Shea & Boyle LLP and has spent his legal career handling catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases involving commercial vehicles, pedestrians, industrial or construction accidents, utility negligence, dangerous conditions of public and private property as well as victims of sexual abuse and sexual assault. Mr. Ravipudi also represents consumers in class actions against businesses who engage in unfair and illegal business practices.
Currently serving as Public Entity Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel in the JUUL Labs Product Cases representing school districts and other public entities in California involved in litigation against the
e-cigarette manufacturer, Mr. Ravipudi also serves as Plaintiffs Co-Lead Counsel in the Southern California Fire Cases litigation arising out of the 2017 Thomas Fire and subsequent debris flows in Montecito, California as well as on the Plaintiffs Executive Committee in the California North Bay Fires litigation. He previously served on the Steering Committee in the Blythe bus crash litigation.
Named 2017 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, Mr. Ravipudi has obtained numerous landmark results for his clients including a $160.5 million jury verdict for a man who suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of a vicious beating by nightclub security, a $20,500,000 jury verdict for the mother of a high school student who was killed while walking to a bus stop, and a $19,786,818 jury verdict for a man who suffered severe burn and traumatic brain injuries when his rental home exploded as a result of Southern California Gas Company negligence. Notable settlements obtained by Mr. Ravipudi include 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, and a $23,500,000 settlement for the family of Paul Lee, a 19-year-old non-verbal autistic student who tragically died aboard a Whittier school bus after the bus driver left him behind to engage in a sexual tryst with a coworker. The Lee case was a catalyst for significant change in school transportation with Governor Jerry Brown signing the “œPaul Lee School Bus Safety Law” in September 2016, requiring all school buses in the state of California to be equipped with a child safety alarm system that must be deactivated by the bus driver before departing the bus.
Mr. Ravipudi is co-founder of the Elawvate podcast, a Fellow with the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and an associate member of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He obtained his law degree from Loyola Law School where he has served as an adjunct professor teaching Trial Advocacy since 2008 and resides in La Canada Flintridge with his three sons and wife Smitha, who serves as CEO at USC Care & Ambulatory Care Services at Keck Medicine of USC.
