Recent News

Liaison counsel, Paul Kiesel, providing latest news on the 344 filed cases The court held its most recent status conference on November 15, 2017. The case is moving into the discovery phase of the litigation. Southern California Gas Co (SCG) has produced hundreds of thousands of documents that the plaintiff attorneys are currently reviewing and evaluating.  There are hundreds of thousands more documents to come. Additionally, within the next 60 days, “depositions” will begin where witnesses will give live testimony relating to what has occurred. There will likely be dozens if not hundreds of depositions taken over the next 6-8... Read More

 Historic verdict on behalf of women against Johnson & Johnson By Daniel Siegal Law360, Los Angeles — The first California state jury to evaluate the possible link between Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder products and ovarian cancer set a high-water mark on Monday with a $417 million verdict for the company’s role in causing a woman’s terminal cancer, surpassing large awards from earlier trials in Missouri. After two days of deliberations following the four-week trial in Los Angeles, the jury found for plaintiff Eva Echeverria, finding that J&J had failed to warn consumers about the increased risk of ovarian cancer caused by... Read More

$676,000 Awarded by Los Angeles Jury “The insurance company says they take full responsibility for the accident, yet refuse to  compensate the plaintiff for the injuries received.”  This opening given by attorney Bryan Garcia of Kiesel Law LLP explained to the Los Angeles Superior Court jury why the matter had reached the trial stage.  With $21,000 in medical treatment and pain that continues to this day for our client, Mercury Insurance Company was only willing to offer $55,000 to settle the case.  Our firm demand was $200,000. Attorney Ashley Conlogue did the direct examination of Dr. David Fish MD, the... Read More

CVN’s Top 10 Most Impressive Plaintiff Verdicts of 2017 #3:  Hilario Cruz, et al. v. Nissan North America $25 million verdict over faulty brakes that caused wrongful manslaughter charge   Why it made the list: When plaintiff Hilario Cruz first filed a lawsuit over the vehicular collision that took the life of his two children and their mother, he sued the driver of the Infiniti SUV that slammed into their car, 74-year-old Solomon Mathenge. Mathenge was later charged with vehicular manslaughter. Mathenge maintained that the brakes on his vehicle failed, and after prosecutors learned that the same defect Mathenge alleged also... Read More

Kiesel Law Congratulates Former Partner Helen Zukin on her Appointment as Judge for the Superior Court of California Pictured L to R: Paul Kiesel, Presiding Justice Elwood Lui, Justice Arthur Gilbert, Judge Helen Zukin, Federal Judge Dolly Gee and Attorney General Xavier Becerra   At the Swearing-In Ceremony, Paul Kiesel remarked, “On behalf of Steven Archer, Jeff Koncius and myself, your former partners celebrate with you Judge Zukin.”

Kiesel Law LLP, along with other members of the leadership counsel, is proud to announce the successful negotiation of a settlement program to resolve all remaining eligible metal-on-metal claims pending against Wright Medical. This settlement program will involve over 600 eligible metal-on-metal revised hip claims currently pending in the MDL, in the JCCP, and on tolling agreements. This follows the first phase of 1,300 claims settled against Wright Medical regarding metal-on-metal hip implant patient-claimants in 2016. Due to Wright’s financial situation, values will be discounted from the first settlement but will include standard awards as well as an Enhanced Injury... Read More

Kiesel Law LLP retained by the Villanueva family after their unarmed son Pedro was shot and killed by CHP officers On the evening of July 3, 2016, Villanueva, a 19-year-old student, was shot to death by undercover officers with the California Highway Patrol in Fullerton, California. The officers also shot and injured passenger Francisco Orozco. The officers began following Villanueva’s vehicle because Villanueva had attended a sideshow, which is an informal gathering of young adults and their vehicles in parking lots.  “The only basis the undercover officers had for following Villanueva was that he attended the sideshow”, said attorney Paul R.... Read More

Kiesel Law LLP wins California Supreme Court victory for consumers of organic foods “To buyers and sellers alike, labels matter.”   Today, the CA Supreme Court held that state law claims which alleged that produce distributed and sold by Herb Thyme was being intentionally mislabeled as organic is not preempted by federal law. The Court further stated that lawsuits alleging intentional mislabeling of organic produce promote, rather than hinder, Congress’s purposes and objectives. The class action filed by Kiesel Law LLP alleging false advertising and unfair competition, can now proceed. Kiesel Law LLP is proud of this victory for consumers... Read More

PricewaterhouseCoopers fraudulently misrepresented its ability to implement a new billing system for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in order to secure a $70-million municipal contract and subsequently failed to deliver, according to a civil lawsuit filed Friday by the city attorney’s office.  According to the city attorney’s complaint, PricewaterhouseCoopers “overstated its knowledge, expertise and skills necessary to convert” the existing system and launch a new software platform. The alleged misrepresentation began after the L.A. utility issued a request for proposals in an effort to modernize its nearly 40 years old customer care and billing system.  As a... Read More

“And now you know why we are here” were the words that attorney Paul R. Kiesel used at the close of a ten day trial on behalf of the victim of a Truck collision. Paul was reminding the jury of the defense lawyer’s opening statement two weeks earlier when the Defendant trucking company admitted full responsibility for the crash and it’s lawyer said “We want to make it right”. This personal injury trial focused on injuries that the Plaintiff sustained when his stopped pickup truck was rear-ended by the Defendant’s 45,000 pound Tractor-Trailer that was traveling at 45 miles per... Read More

Jury Awards 11 Million Dollars In the first trial against Wright Medical regarding the company’s metal-on-metal Conserve Hip device, an Atlanta, Georgia jury unanimously awarded $11 million in damages. The jury found that Wright defectively designed the Conserve model hip device and negligently misrepresented the design features, resulting in Ms. Christiansen’s harm. Congratulations to Kiesel Law’s own Helen Zukin and Cherisse Cleofe, as well as Ray Boucher, Michael McGlamry and Kirk Pope for their excellent and hard work during this two week trial.

The New York Times reached out to Mr. Kiesel as part of its continuing news coverage of the tragic Amtrak train crash.  Mr. Kiesel, who was liaison counsel for the litigation that arose from the 2008 Metrolink train crash in Chatsworth, spoke about both the Congressionally imposed cap on damages and the technology that could have prevented the crash.  The most recent article stated: With eight people killed and scores injured, the claims could easily exceed $200 million. Paul R. Kiesel, a lawyer who represented victims in the 2008 Metrolink crash in California, said the money would not go far enough to compensate... Read More

A multi-million dollar settlement has been obtained by Paul Kiesel on behalf of clients Nathaniel T. and Gary R. after a jury verdict shattered a decade’s old practice of magazine clearing houses classifying salespeople as independent contractors in order to escape liability.  The 12 person jury unanimously decided that the magazine clearing house, Atlantic Circulation Inc., was the employer of Nathaniel and Gary, who traveled from town to town knocking on doors selling magazines for the exclusive benefit of the magazine clearing house.  Prior to this trial, magazine clearing houses in California and across the country enjoyed the benefits of... Read More