Recent News

Paul R. Kiesel of Kiesel Law LLP has been appointed Liaison Counsel in the Carson Dominguez Channel Pollution litigation filed on behalf of over 12,000 individuals who were exposed to the horrific stench emanating from the Dominguez Channel in the City of Carson. Residents of Carson began noticing the smell caused by hydrogen sulfide gas combined with other toxic pollutants around October 3, 2021. Kiesel Law LLP is working closely with other firms and top experts investigating the cause and  is continuing to file new actions arising from this ongoing incident. If you have suffered harm from the hydrogen sulfide... Read More

Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2022 Personal Injury & Medical Malpractice Editorial Advisory Board.  Paul R. Kiesel is one of California’s leading trial lawyers. He has received some of the largest personal injury verdicts and settlements. Kiesel was involved in a four-month remote jury trial, the first in Southern California, against Monsanto for its weed killer Roundup.  

Kiesel Law LLP has been appointed as trial counsel for a certified class of Dodge Dart owners in Federal Court: The Court has approved Kiesel Law LLP being brought in to try the class claims against Fiat Chrysler for allegedly defective manual transmission Dodge Darts. Trial is currently scheduled to begin October 11, 2022, in United States District Court, Southern District of California.

On or around October 3, 2021, residents of Carson began noticing a horrific stench emanating from the Dominguez Channel in the City of Carson. The smell is hydrogen sulfide gas combined with other toxic pollutants which has affected thousands of Carson residents. Kiesel Law LLP filed the first individual action and is working closely with other firms and top experts investigating the cause. Kiesel Law LLP is continuing to file new actions arising from this ongoing incident.

Kiesel Law LLP Settles Class Action for more than $11,000,000 in Federal Court:  Kiesel Law LLP brought the class action for breach of fiduciary duties, and related claims, against the board members of a nonprofit statutory royalties fund who were alleged to have unlawfully taken money owed under the Copyright Act from backup vocalists and musicians. Prior to settlement, Kiesel Law LLP secured certification of a nationwide class and successfully defeated dispositive motions brought by Defendants’ including their Motion for Summary Judgment.

Kiesel Law LLP Settles a Difficult Police Shooting Case for $4,500,000:  Kiesel Law LLP successfully resolved a case involving an unlawful shooting by two California Highway Patrol Deputies who were in an unmarked police vehicle, and which resulted in the death of our client.  Kiesel Law LLP was able to successfully defeat both Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment on the issue of Qualified Immunity, as well as Defendants’ appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal.

An historic settlement for the Porter Ranch community after a six year battle with the Southern California Gas Company. This resolves the claims for the largest and longest natural gas leak in U.S. history. SCG has agreed to pay 1.8 billion dollars to resolve these personal injury claims. Kiesel law was honored to serve in the roll of plaintiffs  liaison counsel.  

The JUUL Litigation is currently pending in Los Angeles Superior Court.  Kiesel Law is continuing to review new cases and is actively filing new JUUL lawsuits. The Parties are currently engaged in discovery. Plaintiffs have taken over sixty depositions of JUUL and Altria employees. Plaintiffs plan to take additional depositions over the next several months. Defendants filed various pleading challenges which were heard by the Court in January. Plaintiffs were pleased with the outcome and are hoping to have trial dates set in the coming months.

On Monday, September 14, 2020, Judge Christina A. Snyder of the U.S. District Court, Central District, granted class certification to over 30,000 session musicians and vocalists in an action against SAG-AFTRA and AFM, and its Trustees, for draining in excess of $9,000,000 from an artists’ Fund set up by Congress. The Fund is charged by Congress to collect and distribute royalties received from sources around the world. Instead of holding these funds in trust and working to distribute as much money as possible to the beneficiaries it was responsible for representing, the Fund’s Trustees, officers of the two artist Unions,... Read More

We want to assure you that Kiesel Law LLP is here to assist you with your case. To our existing clients: We continue to work on your case and have complete remote access to our firm’s resources.  Please reach out to any of our attorneys with questions or concerns. You will find their email addresses on our firm attorney page here or you can call 310-854-4444. Potential new clients: Because of the precautions made necessary by the Coronavirus (COVID-19), we are not currently conducting in person meetings, but you can let us know about your potential case by filling out our contact form... Read More

First  trial on behalf of 36,000+ plaintiffs The Porter Ranch Gas Leak litigation has been set for trial in January 2022. Kiesel Law remains committed to all our Porter Ranch Gas Leak clients and is still playing an integral role in advancing the case. If you have any questions regarding your representation or the case, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

Paul Kiesel, of Kiesel Law LLP, has been named Lead Counsel for the Plaintiffs in the California JUUL Litigation based in downtown Los Angeles. It is anticipated that the JUUL litigation will include thousands of individual plaintiffs, school districts, and other government entities. JUUL’s e-cigarettes have become so popular with youth, that the FDA has called “vaping” a teen health epidemic. The reported injuries range from lung damage, seizures, pneumonia, nicotine addiction, among others. It is now reported that JUUL usage and lung damage could make JUUL users more susceptible to COVID-19. Paul Kiesel, in a nationally broadcast interview on... Read More

$6 .18 Million Awarded by Burbank Jury Attorney Paul Kiesel, of Kiesel Law LLP, concluded a 4 week jury trial regarding a defective product which catastrophically failed, leading to Michael Hazard having to undergo numerous limb salvage surgeries to save his left leg. The automotive part in question was a flywheel, a product which was produced in China for ATP, a company which falsely claimed in their advertising that the product was manufactured to meet or exceed original equipment specifications.  In cross examination, Paul Kiesel was able to have the the former CEO of ATP, Roy Lipner, admit that the... 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

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.”

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 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 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

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

Great Victory for Paul R. Kiesel Clients A Los Angeles Jury decided that the braking system software defect in a Nissan-made SUV was the cause of a traffic accident that killed three people, awarding roughly $25 million to the surviving driver and family members of the deceased. Nissan North America Inc. faced claims in the nearly month-long trial from both Solomon Mathenge, represented by Paul Kiesel, whose Infiniti QX56 SUV in 2012 crashed into a minivan in a Hollywood intersection, killing a woman and her two daughters, and by family members of the deceased. Solomon Mathenge was initially charged with... 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

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

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

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.