Andrew Owen focuses his practice on litigating and trying catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases involving trucks, commercial vehicles, pedestrians, industrial or construction accidents, as well as dangerous conditions of public and private property. Mr. Owen also devotes a portion of his practice to consumer class actions against businesses that engage in unfair and illegal business practices.
Some of Mr. Owen’s results include:
- Rada v. Hardin Irvine Automotive, Inc.: ($21,496,420) jury verdict in auto v. motorcycle collision for plaintiff who was knocked off his motorcycle by an inattentive employee who suddenly swerved out of the HOV lane on the 405 freeway. Plaintiff suffered numerous injuries including a fractured right femur, multiple fractures to his right wrist and hand, and an L1 compression fracture. Defendants stipulated to full liability just prior to trial leaving only the nature and extent of plaintiff’s harm at issue.
- Shay v. Western Express: ($10,000,000) auto v. tractor trailer collision where plaintiff’s vehicle ran out of gas and came to a stop in an eastbound lane on the 10 freeway near Blythe. Defendant was unable to avoid plaintiff’s vehicle and slammed into its rear end, sending it careening off the roadway and into the desert. Plaintiff suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. The investigating officer cited plaintiff as a contributing factor to the collision. The case settled as plaintiff’s motion to amend to allege punitive damages against both the defendant driver and the defendant’s employer was pending.
- Garza v. City of Long Beach: ($7,750,000) tractor v. pedestrian incident where a City employee ran over Mr. Garza while he was asleep on the beach. At the time of the incident, the City employee was clearing the beach of storm debris and failed to follow proper procedures and precautions to clear the area where Mr. Garza was sleeping before operating the City tractor there. Mr. Garza suffered serious injuries including a spinal fracture. At the time of the incident, Mr. Garza was indigent and living in a homeless shelter.
- Hsu v. R&P Food Processing, Inc.: ($6,125,000) jury verdict in auto v. box truck collision for plaintiff who was t-boned at an intersection when defendant trucker fell asleep and the wheel and ran a red light. Plaintiff suffered severe and permanent injuries including a traumatic brain injury and damage to her cervical spine.
- McDonough v. Brenna: ($5,250,000) pedestrian v. auto collision involving a 13 year-old who was struck by a Suburban as she was crossing the street, suffering a severe traumatic brain injury. The investigating officers blamed the entire collision on our client. We amended her complaint to allege punitive damages contending the defendant driver was intoxicated on a combination of marijuana and prescription pills. The case settled shortly after the court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment on punitive damages.
- Percy v. Los Angeles Department of Water & Power: ($4,500,000) pedestrian v. flatbed tractor trailer involving a 93 year-old who was knocked to the ground and run over as he was crossing the street, suffering severe crush and degloving injuries to his arm. The investigating officers blamed the entire collision on our client.
- Doe v. National Trucking Company: (in excess of $4,000,000) bicyclist v. auto collision where defendant driver ran over and crushed plaintiff’s pelvis and then fled the scene. Defendants initially maintained the collision never occurred, but then argued that plaintiff caused the collision. The investigating officers also blamed the entire collision on plaintiff. The case settled on the eve of trial after denial of defendants’ summary judgment motion on negligence, vicarious liability and punitive damages.
- Scott v. City of Los Angeles: ($4,000,000) auto v. dangerous condition of public property where a woman suffered catastrophic injuries after driving her vehicle into a large sinkhole that suddenly opened up on the road, causing her vehicle to fall 20-feet below and land upside down in a pool of raw sewage.
- Barrett v. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority: ($4,000,000) pedestrian v. bus where clients’ 72 year-old mother was hit and killed by an SFMTA bus as she was crossing the street within a marked crosswalk.
- Doe v. Roe: ($2,250,000) auto v. auto collision where client was a passenger in a vehicle that was hit head on by a distracted driver. The client suffered a fractured ankle and back injury requiring surgery.
- Doe v. Company Driver: ($1,150,000) auto v. auto collision where our client was rear ended by defendant driver. Plaintiff suffered a neck injury requiring surgery.
Prior to joining Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP, Mr. Owen worked as a paralegal, law clerk and attorney at O’Donnell & Associates, a boutique civil litigation and trial firm that specialized in complex, multi-million dollar state and federal lawsuits involving antitrust, entertainment, intellectual property, energy, securities, products liability, toxic tort, real estate, constitutional law, finance, and business disputes.
Some of Mr. Owen’s prior work included:
- In re Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation: twin suits against United States and a private contractor alleging their negligence caused plaintiffs’ flood damage during Hurricane Katrina.
- State of California ex rel. Hindin v. Hewlett Packard Company and Agilent Technologies Inc.: qui tam suit for violation of California False Claims Act.
- The State of Nevada v. Watanabe: white-collar criminal defense of gambler involving a gaming debt of over $10 million.
- In re Natural Gas Anti-trust Cases I, II, III, IV: consumer class action antitrust case concerning natural gas price fixing during 2000-01 energy crisis.
Mr. Owen has been named among the 2020 Best Lawyer in America in the area of Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs, recognized as a Southern California Rising Star by the Super Lawyers publication, and is a member of the State Bar of California, the United States District Court for the Central District of California, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is also an active member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles.
While working as a law clerk, Mr. Owen attended the night program at Southwestern Law School where he graduated cum laude. He earned Highest Honors in Legal Research & Writing, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and California Pretrial Practice. Mr. Owen was also an active member of Moot Court and competed in the 2008 National Telecommunications Competition at Catholic University, where his team won First Place and he won Best Oralist.
ARTICLES BY MR. OWEN:
Advocate October 2019 – The Defense Medical Exam, Protecting Your Client and Their Cases From Improper Examinations and Interrogations During DMEs
Advocate April 2018 – Company Accident Reports: A Guide to Compelling Their Production Over Defendant’s Objections
