PARRIS Partners R. Rex Parris and Alexander R. Wheeler Named 2022 Top Plaintiff Lawyers by Daily Journal

PARRIS is pleased to announce that R. Rex Parris and Patricia K. Oliver are finalists for the prestigious Consumer Attorney of the Year award by Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC).

This honor comes after Rex and Patricia worked tirelessly with a team of attorneys for six years to achieve a $1.8 billion settlement on behalf of California residents following the Aliso Canyon Gas Leak.

About Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC)

CAOC is one of the most notable attorney organizations in California, representing the interest of California’s 39 million+ consumers. CAOC member attorneys fight for plaintiffs seeking accountability from insurance companies, corporations, and government organizations. These plaintiffs’ lawyers take on cases they know will benefit the public, advance all costs related to the case, and only collect payment upon a successful result.

Consumer Attorney of the Year is awarded to any CAOC member attorney who expands the rights of California consumers by achieving an outstanding result in a noteworthy case. It is one of the highest honors available to a lawyer in California.

The 2022 Consumer Attorney of the Year award winners will be announced on November 19, 2022, at CAOC’s Annual Convention in San Francisco.

About the Aliso Canyon Gas Leak

From October 2015 – February 2016, one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history occurred in the hills above Porter Ranch, CA, a suburb of Los Angeles.

On October 23, 2015, methane, methyl mercaptan, and other noxious gases began spewing from well SS-25 at the Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility, owned and operated by SoCalGas. Over the next five months, nearly 100,000 tons of toxic gas rolled down the hills, covering nearby homes, schools, businesses, and parks in an oily mist and gas.

The noxious odors could be picked up for several miles during the worst of the leak. People and pets in the area experienced vomiting, nausea, severe headaches, nosebleeds, dizziness, and breathing difficulties. People with preexisting health conditions suffered even more health problems. The toxic gases forced the evacuation of thousands of families during the holiday season.

SoCalGas had no procedures in place for such an emergency and then failed to stop the leak several times in the following months. Tens of thousands of people filed lawsuits for their injuries, property damage, and pain and suffering experienced due to SoCalGas’s negligence.

PARRIS Law Firm’s Fight for Porter Ranch Residents

In the ensuing legal battle, SoCalGas fought to downplay the severity of its mistakes and deny people the justice they deserved.

SoCalGas also failed to cooperate with the court’s rules, withholding hundreds of thousands of documents. By the case’s resolution, the court had ordered the defendants to pay over $5.7 million in sanctions for their abuse of the discovery process.

After 585 days of depositions of 470 witnesses, SoCalGas and Sempra settled the claims of approximately 35,000 Porter Ranch residents for $1.8 billion. This is believed to be the largest settlement in the history of the United States for a natural gas release. It was the largest settlement in California in 2021.

PARRIS attorneys R. Rex Parris and Patricia K. Oliver went above and beyond to achieve an outstanding result for these residents. Join us in congratulating Rex and Patricia for their extraordinary achievements on behalf of the people of Porter Ranch.

R. Rex Parris is widely regarded as one of the most skilled trial attorneys in practice today. Since founding the PARRIS Law Firm in 1985, Rex has obtained billions in results for his clients, including several high-profile verdicts and settlements. In 2009, Rex obtained a $370 million verdict in a defamation case against Georges Marciano, founder of Guess Jeans. More recently, Rex played a pivotal role in obtaining a $1.8 billion settlement against Sempra Energy subsidiary SoCalGas for their role in the 2015-16 Porter Ranch Gas Leak. In addition to his robust legal practice, Rex has been mayor of Lancaster, CA, since 2008 and has been widely applauded for his crime reduction and green energy initiatives in the city.

Robert A. Parris has been with PARRIS Law Firm since 1992 and is now of counsel. Prior to joining the legal profession, Rob worked as a California Highway Patrol officer for 16 years, where he witnessed firsthand the devastation that occurs when commercial vehicles are involved in catastrophic injury crashes. The knowledge he gained as an officer, combined with solid litigation experience, have proven to be a winning combination for the clients he represents. All told, Rob has obtained hundreds of millions of dollars for victims of catastrophic personal injuries.

Khail A. Parris was recognized to Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for his passion for justice and exceptional trial skill. In less than ten years of practice, Khail has obtained more than $200 million for clients. Some of his more recent verdicts include a $120 million verdict for a man severely injured in a T-bone style accident, and a $49.6 million verdict for a motorcycle CHP officer who was seriously injured in the line of duty. When he isn’t working a case, Khail shares his trial skills with other lawyers in education seminars throughout the country.

Join us in congratulating Rex, Rob, and Khail for their incredible service to clients and the community.

After hearing the client’s story in trial, the jury awarded Khail’s client a landmark $120 million verdict. Top Verdict later recognized this result as the highest personal injury verdict in the state in 2021.

Khail also served as co-counsel on behalf of a CHP officer who suffered great injury in a motorcycle accident. While conducting a routine traffic stop, a distracted driver rear-ended the officer, ejecting him onto the roadway. The defendant’s insurance company refused to award the officer the settlement he deserved, so Khail and the PARRIS team took the case to court. After a six-week legal battle, the jury awarded the officer and his wife $49.6 million.

Most recently in 2022, Khail was lead counsel for a man injured in a distracted driving accident. The at-fault driver blew through a red light and struck the client’s car, flipping it 180 degrees. Tragically, the crash left him with a traumatic brain injury, a herniated disc, and nerve damage throughout his body. After fighting for him in a jury trial, Khail obtained a $9.6 million verdict for the client and his family.

All told, Khail A. Parris has obtained more than $200 million in verdicts and settlements for his clients. He was named to the prestigious Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch list in 2021, and has been named to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list every year since 2020. In addition to fighting for his clients, Khail leads legal training seminars for other trial attorneys throughout the year.

PARRIS is pleased to announce that PARRIS attorneys Khail A. Parris and Eric N. Wilson have been selected to the 2022 California Super Lawyers Rising Stars list.

Rising Stars recognizes exceptional attorneys who are either 40 years old or younger or have been in practice for 10 years or less. Attorneys are nominated by their peers and carefully selected after independent research into their experience, achievements, and results for clients. No more than 2.5% of California lawyers are named to this list.

Together, Khail and Eric have obtained hundreds of millions in verdicts and settlements within the last two years. In 2021, the team obtained a $141 million award for a man who suffered life-changing injuries in a catastrophic T-bone style accident caused by a distracted driver. This award was later recognized as California’s largest personal injury verdict in 2021.

Additionally, Khail and Eric played pivotal roles in obtaining a $49.6 million verdict last year for a CHP officer rear-ended while riding his motorcycle on duty. This result was the fourth-largest personal injury verdict in California in 2021, and the second-largest verdict for the victim of a vehicle accident.

Khail A. Parris and Eric N. Wilson’s other results for clients include a $56.5 million victory for two brothers injured in a head-on car crash and a $13 million settlement for a woman injured by a negligent worker in a Tesla factory.

Most recently, Khail and Eric went to trial on behalf of a man severely injured in a car accident in Santa Clarita. The defense offered a $370,000 settlement on the eve of trial, and another high-low settlement agreement with a maximum amount of $5 million on the eve of closing. The PARRIS team rejected both of these offers outright. After Khail and Eric fought for their client in court, a jury awarded their client $9.6 million.

Both Khail A. Parris and Eric N. Wilson are fearless fighters that embody the best of the legal profession. Though both have been in practice for less than a decade, the two have transformed countless lives with the incredible results they secure for clients.

Join us in congratulating Khail and Eric for their incredible work!

We are pleased to announce that PARRIS partners R. Rex Parris and Alexander R. Wheeler have been honored as two of California’s Top Plaintiff Lawyers by esteemed legal publication, the Daily Journal.

Each year, the Daily Journal carefully selects attorneys from hundreds of nominations throughout the state. The Top Plaintiff Lawyers are recognized for their work on significant cases impacting both California and the world at large.

R. Rex Parris

PARRIS founding attorney R. Rex Parris’s long history of legal success has landed him multiple features in the Daily Journal throughout his career. In this year’s article, Rex is recognized for his role in obtaining two landmark personal injury results in 2021: a $141 million award for a man left with brain damage after a catastrophic T-bone style accident, and a $49.6 million verdict for a CHP officer rear-ended while riding his motorcycle.

Alexander R. Wheeler

PARRIS partner Alexander R. Wheeler was recognized for his exceptional work for clients. Alex spent much of his early career at PARRIS building the firm’s class action department, and he continues to represent clients in multi-million dollar class actions to this day. However, Alex is also a renowned trial lawyer specializing in personal injury and wrongful death cases. In 2021, he and PARRIS partner Jason P. Fowler achieved a $10.6 million wrongful death verdict for the family of two men who lost their lives in a tragic head-on car crash. All told, Alex has obtained over $500 million in verdicts and settlements for clients throughout his career.

Holding Corporations Accountable

Both Rex and Alex have maintained a focus on holding major corporations and government entities responsible for their transgressions against innocent plaintiffs.

Last year, R. Rex Parris, together with PARRIS attorney Patricia K. Oliver and other plaintiffs’ counsel, was instrumental in obtaining a $1.8 billion settlement against Sempra Energy subsidiary SoCalGas. The settlement held the energy behemoth accountable for causing a gas leak that sickened thousands of Porter Ranch residents in 2015-16.

Alexander R. Wheeler, together again with Patricia K. Oliver, represents hundreds of plaintiffs in a lawsuit against LA Sanitation for causing a massive sewage spill near El Segundo, CA, in the summer of 2021. The disaster, which flooded the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant and sent 17 million gallons of raw sewage into the ocean, also released noxious odors into the community, causing residents months of health issues.

Rex and Alex have also worked together on several cases against public and corporate defendants. When news came out that the LA Department of Water and Power had been covering up a methane leak in the Sun Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles for at least three years, Rex and Alex filed suit against the city.

Most recently, Rex and Alex went to trial against Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) on behalf of a business owner falsely accused of conducting “illegal and unsafe” excavations that caused a deadly gas pipeline explosion in 2015.

PARRIS partners R. Rex Parris and Alexander R. Wheeler are exemplary attorneys. They use their immense skill and experience to fight relentlessly for their clients, with incredible results. Join us in congratulating our partners for their achievements.

Top Verdict, the legal industry leader in recognizing outstanding verdicts and settlements, has named three of PARRIS Law Firm’s 2021 results to their list of top 10 verdicts and settlements in California.

PARRIS Law Firm tops the charts for the largest personal injury settlement in California in 2021. In September 2021, PARRIS Law Firm attorneys R. Rex Parris and Patricia K. Oliver, together with other plaintiffs’ counsel, obtained a $1.8 billion settlement against energy giant Sempra Energy. This massive result comes six years after Sempra subsidiary SoCalGas negligently allowed nearly 100,000 tons of methane to leak from a gas well into nearby Porter Ranch, CA, causing mass illness.

Additionally, in August 2021, PARRIS Law Firm attorneys R. Rex Parris and Khail A. Parris obtained a $120,000,000 verdict for a man severely injured in a car accident. Top Verdict has recognized this nine-figure result as the highest personal injury verdict in California in 2021, as well as the highest award in several years granted to the victim of a car accident.

PARRIS also secured a $49,640,094 verdict for a CHP officer who was rear-ended while riding his motorcycle on duty. Attorneys Khail A. Parris, R. Rex Parris, Eric N. Wilson, and Bruce L. Schechter fought for the officer in a six-week trial, obtaining an award that would rank as the fourth-largest personal injury verdict in California in 2021. The $49.6 million awarded to the officer and his family was the second-largest amount awarded to the victim of a vehicle accident in California last year—second only to PARRIS’ $120 million verdict obtained in August 2021.

Recognition from Top Verdict is enormously significant in the legal world. The organization compiles the highest settlements and verdicts in a region using independent research, including legal publications, court records, and attorney submissions. Out of the tens of thousands of results California law firms obtain in a single year, only 100 verdicts and 100 settlements receive recognition—and only 10 verdicts and 10 settlements make the Top 10 list.

At PARRIS Law Firm, our attorneys work diligently day and night to help our clients make the greatest recovery possible. We are grateful that the results we achieve for our clients are truly some of the best in the business.