Rahul Ravipudi, Class Action Attorney in Los Angeles, California

Rahul Ravipudi has spent his legal career representing handling catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases, involving commercial vehicles, pedestrians, industrial or construction accidents, and dangerous conditions of public and private property. He also represents consumers in class actions against businesses who engage in unfair and illegal business practices.

Recently, Mr. Ravipudi recovered $10 million for the family of an independent truck driver killed by an intoxicated heavy lift operator at a stevedoring terminal in Long Beach. He also recovered $5 million for an HVAC worker who suffered serious injuries when he fell through a skylight while working on a customer’s roof. He also obtained a $3.3 million gross jury verdict in Orange County arising out of the death of a pest control person crushed and killed when a semi-truck reversed into him at a warehousing facility. He and Brian Panish also obtained a $2.1 million jury verdict for the mother and father of a severely mentally disabled 38 year old man who choked to death on a sandwich while in a daycare facility.

Mr. Ravipudi also recovered $9 million from the State of California (Caltrans) when a 16 year old girl on a restricted license lost control of her vehicle and collided into a guardrail damaged two days earlier resulting in a bilateral traumatic below knee amputations. This case involved significant appellate issues which led to Mr. Ravipudi’s article, “Dealing with the state of California’s first line of defense – stonewalling any meaningful discovery” published in The Advocate, Journal of Consumer Attorneys for California, February 2009.

Mr. Ravipudi has also successfully recovered over eight figures against stevedoring companies in the City of Long Beach who allow their longshoremen to recklessly injure and kill independent truck drivers. Mr. Ravipudi shared his insight into successfully litigating cases against the stevedoring companies in an article entitled, “Danger on the Docks – Where there is an injury or death, drugs or alcohol probably were involved” published in The Advocate, Journal of Consumer Attorneys for California, February 2011.

Prior to joining Panish Shea & Boyle, Rahul Ravipudi worked at another consumer law firm where his work helped recover over $4 billion for his clients. Mr. Ravipudi participated as co-lead class counsel in a consumer class action case brought on behalf of all gas and electricity rate payers in the State of California against El Paso Natural Gas Company and Sempra Energy. This case arose out of the California Energy Crisis of 2000/2001 and resulted in the recovery of more than $3.5 billion in restitution to California utility customers. To date, this is recognized as one of the largest antitrust settlements in American history.

Mr. Ravipudi also participated as co-lead counsel on an antitrust class action case brought on behalf of all gas and electricity rate payers in California against Reliant Energy Services and other energy traders for manipulating the California natural gas market by engaging in wash trades, churning, and false reporting. Hundreds of millions of dollars were recovered for rate payers of the State of California as well.

Since 2005, Mr. Ravipudi has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by California Law & Politics magazine – an honor awarded to the top 2.5% of lawyers in the Southern California area under 40 years of age. In 2010, Mr. Ravipudi was profiled in the California Law & Politics magazine in an article entitled “Class Act(ion)”. He is a frequent speaker on various issues, including class action litigation and trial tactics, and since 2008 has served as an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School where he teaches Trial Advocacy.

Mr. Ravipudi actively publishes articles in various journals and trade publications and is an Associate Editor for The Advocate, Journal of Consumer Attorneys for California. He continues to be an active member of the Consumer Attorneys of California, the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, and the South Asian Bar Association.

Mr. Ravipudi is actively involved in matters of public interest as well. He has been the Treasurer of the South Asian Bar Association Public Interest Foundation. He is also an active supporter of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles where his wife is the Administrative Director of Surgery.

Mr. Ravipudi received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Minor in Chemistry from the University of California, Riverside and his law degree from Loyola Law School.