Education and Bar Admission:
Bachelor of Science, University of California, 1975
Juris Doctor, Member of Law Review, University of LaVerne, 1978
Admitted to the State Bar of California, 1978
Professional Experiences:
- Member of American Board of Trial Advocates
Rank: Advocate - Designated a Super Lawyer in a survey of his peers, as announced in Los Angeles Magazine, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011
- Named a TOP ATTORNEY in personal injury by Pasadena Magazine, 2010 & 2011
- Rated A.V. (highest possible rating for preeminent legal ability and ethics) by Martindale Hubbell, the national directory of attorneys
- Mr. Powell has tried over 150 trials or binding arbitrations to verdict or award
Significant Verdicts/Awards:
- Whatley-Miller v. Cooper, M.D. – $4.6 million verdict for the family of a 51-year old husband and father of two when the jury found that Dr. Cooper failed to treat chest pain.
- Schotz v. Miyagi’s Restaurant – $1,011,321 verdict in an assault and battery case. Mr. Schotz was a patron of Miyagi’s Restaurant. When he left the restaurant on the night in question, he was assaulted by employees of a valet service hired by Miyagi to park patrons’ cars.
- Sheppard v. Hasio, M.D. – $6,345,543 verdict in an Erb’s/Brachial Plexus case. The jury found that Dr. Shaw was negligent in his prenatal management and his delivery technique causing severe and permanent injuries to the newborn’s right arm.
- Guerrero v. Carreon, M.D. – $4,756,872 verdict for the plaintiff when the jury found that Dr. Carreon was negligent in causing and managing post-operative bleeding after a C-section leading to the mother’s death.
- Hsieh v. Foong, M.D. – $8,357,921 verdict for the plaintiff when the jury found that Dr. Foong was negligent in failing to timely respond to the requests from nursing personnel to come to the hospital and treat Mrs. Hsieh for labor complications.
- Malko v. Tooma, M.D. – $1,009,837 verdict for the plaintiff when the jury found that Dr. Tooma was negligent in his failure to timely diagnose and treat bacterial emdophthalmitis.
- Lynn v. United States of America – $1 million was recovered for the plaintiff and his spouse when the Veteran’s Administration failed to follow national protocols concerning the detection of colon rectal cancer.
- Phillips v. Confidential – $876,509 was recovered when the plaintiff retained an attorney to represent him in an underlying medical negligence case. The attorney obtained a substantial recovery but negligently failed to perfect a claim against the Defendant County of Riverside. As a result, the plaintiff was unable to obtain a full recovery for the medical negligence claim and made a claim against her negligent attorney.
- Townsend v. Bender, M.D. – $819,999 verdict for the plaintiff when the jury found that Dr. Bender was negligent in placing the patient on flutamide to treat his prostate cancer and not do routine liver function tests.
- Neal v. Loma Linda University Medical Center – $800,000 was recovered for the family of Dr. Neal, who was admitted to the defendant’s medical center for hip replacement surgery. After surgery, the patient suffered an aspiration complication. Rather than treat the condition, the patient was negligently allowed to suffer a second aspiration event, which resulted in his death three months later.
- Herron v. Neelappa – $718,794 was recovered when the arbitration panel found that Dr. Neelappa was negligent in his failure to timely diagnose and treat bacterial pneumonia, leading to the patient’s death.
- Province v. Confidential M.D. – $500,000 was recovered for the plaintiff when the defendant negligently failed to follow-up on a routine pre-operative chest x-ray which disclosed a 5cm mass.
- Velez v. County of San Diego – $500,000 was recovered when the plaintiff was placed on isoniazid to treat a suspected tuberculosis infection. The patient’s delivered signs and symptoms of liver toxicity went unrecognized. As a result, the patient suffered severe and permanent liver damage and underwent a liver transplant.
- Gonzales v. Heard M.D. – $285,000 verdict for the plaintiff when the jury found that Dr. Heard negligently failed to diagnose and treat an esophageal perforation.
- Rahmatulla v. Kaiser Foundation Hospital – An arbitration award in the amount of $250,000, the maximum amount allowed by California law was received when arbitration panel found that the defendant failed to timely diagnose and treat plaintiff’s cauda equina syndrome, and as a result of the delay, the patient suffered bowel and bladder dysfunction.
- Mitchell v. US Family Care – $200,000 verdict for emotional distress when the jury found that the defendant physicians were negligent in telling the plaintiff that a lesion on his penis was the result of herpes. The plaintiff in fact had a sebaceous cyst, which was easily and permanently removed when the correct diagnosis was made.
- Phillips v. Kaiser Foundation Hospital – An arbitration award of $200,000 was recovered for the plaintiff. The arbitrator found the Kaiser physician, Dr. Dilibero, negligently failed to anatomically reduce the plaintiff’s elbow fracture, leading to permanent dysfunction.
- Pak v. Duarte, M.D. – $259,000 verdict for plaintiff when the jury found the surgeon negligently injured plaintiff’s common bile duct during gallbladder surgery.
Bar Activities:
- Los Angeles County Bar Association
- Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association
- American Board of Trial Advocates
Professional Activities:
- Judge Pro Tem, 1985
- Los Angeles Superior Court, Arbitrator, 1985