Tom Schultz

Tom Schultz is a partner at Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP and has been a trial attorney for 35 years. He focuses his practice on representing plaintiffs in a variety of complex civil cases involving claims of catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, product liability and financial loss, as well as pharmaceutical and medical device cases. During his career as a plaintiff’s attorney, Mr. Schultz has represented approximately 4,000 clients with over $2 billion in settlements and verdicts on behalf of his clients.

Mr. Schultz is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell — the highest rating possible for an attorney — and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) for his extensive jury trial experience. Mr. Schultz is also listed among the Best Lawyers in America and is recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer by the Super Lawyers® publication.

Since joining the firm in 2011, Mr. Schultz has obtained well over one billion dollars in verdicts, settlements and judgments, with 161 cases in excess of $1,000,000 and the following 40 cases of at least $10,000,000 or more:

Mr. Schultz has received the following awards for his outstanding trial efforts:

In addition to handling individual cases, Mr. Schultz was the primary handling lawyer for several mass tort cases including a $200 million settlement involving claims against the pharmaceutical giant, Eli Lilly, for injuries arising out of the drug Zyprexa.

Immediately prior to joining Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP, Mr. Schultz was a Deputy District Attorney in the Major Fraud Unit of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office from 2008 to 2010, where he handled primarily complex criminal economic fraud cases, including the largest worker’s compensation fraud case in Orange County’s history.

During a 10-year period from 1998 to 2008, Mr. Schultz worked for and then became a partner in the nationally recognized law firm of Lopez, Hodes, Restaino, Skikos & Polos. At this firm, he obtained approximately $600 million in settlements and verdicts in a variety of individual and mass tort cases.

Mr. Schultz developed his skills as a plaintiff’s lawyer under the tutelage of the late David M. Harney, a former past President of the International Academy of Trial lawyers and widely regarded as one of the greatest trial lawyers of his generation. Between 1988 and 1998, Mr. Schultz worked with the Harney Law Firm, starting as a law clerk while in law school for two years and then as an attorney for eight years. As a young attorney, Mr. Schultz tried over a dozen cases as lead counsel, including his first case within weeks of passing the bar, which he won. His greatest success at the firm though was meeting and later marrying his beautiful wife Alexandra.

Mr. Schultz graduated from Loyola Law School in 1990 and obtained his undergraduate degree from UCLA in 1987. He resides in Newport Beach, California, with his wife Alexandra and his youngest son Elliot, who is in the ninth grade. Mr. Schultz has two adult children, Andrew, a new attorney and graduate of UCLA and USC Gould School of Law, and Christian, a graduate of Loyola Marymount University and a year-long post graduate program at the prestigious Berklee School of Music. Mr. Schultz enjoys spending time with his family, his faithful dog Sadie, a four year-old rescue, and watching sporting events. Most weekends he can be found at a soccer field or basketball gym watching his youngest son, Elliot.