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ABOTA - Diplomate
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Lawdragon Legend

John Taylor

LOCATION: Los Angeles, California
VCARD:

John C. Taylor is a nationally recognized trial lawyer in California. The broad variety of cases he has tried during his career is matched by few attorneys, trying more than 135 cases to verdict, including: police shootings and civil rights, sexual abuse, serious personal injury, wrongful death, products liability, insurance bad faith, and employment. He has been named “Trial Lawyer of the Year” by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles and Verdictum Juris. He has been listed as one of the Top Plaintiff Attorneys in CA (LA Daily Journal) and voted a “Super Lawyer” every year since the award’s inception in 2004, including more than ten years in the Top 100 and Top 10 listings. He has been selected multiple times by LAWDRAGON as one of The 500 Leading Lawyers in America. In 2022, John was named to the Lawdragon Legends list John holds the rank of “Diplomate” in the American Board of Trial Advocates, an invitation-only organization of the best trial lawyers in the country. He is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Attorneys, another invitation-only organization.

Some of his record-setting outcomes include:

  • $57.5 million verdict in an insurance bad faith action arising from an aviation accident resulting in the death of three men. Santesson v. Beech Aircraft
  • $35 million verdict on behalf of an adult woman who was raped by her adult, male track coach when she was a minor high school student at Pomona High School in the 1990s.
  • $25 million verdict for a former student of Dos Pueblos High School in the Santa Barbara Unified School District who was sexually abused by an assistant coach.
  • $25.3 million verdict against the Westerly School, a private school in Long Beach, on behalf of a client who was subjected to sexual abuse over the course of his four years there. Stephen W. v. Westerly School of Long Beach
  • $18.6 million verdict for negligent entrustment of an automobilewhere a company president allowed his wife to drive a company-owned vehicle four days after she failed the DMV road exam and caused serious injury to a motorcyclist. Mallabo v. Wan Hai Lines (America)
  • $14.4 million verdict in a negligence case where an improperly serviced asphalt truck caused a chain collision on the freeway. Two people died and one suffered severe brain damage. Pascua/White vs. Industrial Asphalt
  • $13 million verdict on behalf of a woman who was sexually molested by a paraprofessional while she was attending Daniel Pearl Magnet High School in Van Nuys.
  • $12.9 million verdict for a truck driver seriously injured when the defective pallet jack toppled over on him at a delivery location. Munoz vs. Sierra Autocars, Inc.
  • $10 million verdict in a wrongful death case against the LAPD, 30 years in the making. In a published decision, the California Court of Appeal upheld the verdict against Los Angeles Police Detective Stephanie Lazarus for the murder of Sherri Rasmussen more than 30 years ago. Nels Rasmussen et al. v. Stephanie Lazarus
  • $8.75 million verdict in a wrongful death casewhere an unarmed 29-year-old man was shot and killed by Los Angeles County Sheriffs. Montalvo v. Los Angeles Sheriff's Dept
  • $8.05 million verdict in a sexual abuse casewhere a 14-year-old female student was manipulated into a sexual relationship with her eighth-grade teacher. The school district was liable for its negligent supervision of the student and the teacher.  vs. Pomona Unified School District
  • $7.9 million settlement on behalf of a woman who was sexually abused by her teacher at Grover Cleveland Charter High School during her time as a student.
  • $7.5M settlement in a wrongful death casewhere Kurt Reinhold was shot to death by police officers in San Clemente. This is the largest settlement against the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for a police shooting.
  • $6.75 million verdict in police shooting case; Civil Rights/Excessive Force—Police shot plaintiff mistaking him for person they were pursuing on foot. Galal v. City of Long Beach
  • $5.4 million verdict in a sexual assault case where a 37-year-old woman was sexually battered and raped in a West Hollywood nightclub by a staff member. Janice H. v. Here Lounge
  • $5.1 million verdict for Insurance Bad Faith—Failure to timely resolve UIM claim. Defendant maintained a list of and discriminated against lawyers who primarily represented African Americans and Hispanic claimants and company policy to cases.
  • $5 million settlement for a client who, while working as a student driver for a national trucking company, was raped by her Lead Driver.
  • $4.6 million settlement in a case where an unarmed man was shot and killedby a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy. Bowers vs. County of Los Angeles
  • $3.6 million verdict against Caltrans for Dangerous Condition of Public Property—Roadway design caused drunk driver to cross into oncoming traffic lane and collide with plaintiff on motorcycle with 10-year-old son, killing son and amputating plaintiff’s leg.
  • $3.3 million verdict against the U.S. Border Patrol, to parents of 2 students killed when walking to school, struck by fleeing car chased by U.S. Border patrol agents. Murillo vs. United States of America
  • $3.1 million verdict for battery and conspiracy against nightclub owner in business dispute with client who was kidnapped at gunpoint and shot when jumping from car to escape. Chao v. Ma
  • $3.3 million verdict: Civil Rights/Wrongful Death—Police shot 16 yr. old boy running from vehicle after vehicle pursuit. Velasquez v. City of Compton
  • $2.2 million verdict against the City of Los Angeleson behalf of the father of a 26-year-old African-American male who was shot and killed in front of his family by Los Angeles Police Department officers. Eaddy v. City of Los Angeles

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • CAALA, Emeritus Board of Governors
  • ABOTA, Diplomate
  • American Association for Justice (AAJ), Sustaining Member
  • Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), Sustaining Member

Media

Many of John’s cases have been covered extensively in the media, including his representation of the mother of Lana Clarkson, who was murdered by Phil Spector. He also represented the family of Sherri Rasmussen, who was beaten and shot by LAPD officer Stephanie Lazarus in 1986; the case went unsolved for more than 20 years because the LAPD believed it was a botched burglary. In a published decision, the Court of Appeal upheld a $10 million verdict against Lazarus in 2018. In 2024, John stood by the Rasmussen family again to challenge the court’s granting of parole for Lazarus. The court rescinded their decision and will keep the convicted killer behind bars. 

John also represented Gilberto Santillan, a local (Manhattan Beach) waste collector, in his wrongful termination case against USA Waste of California Inc. in Federal Court. John appealed the lower court’s ruling in favor of USA Waste to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, who in a published decision, concluded that “federal immigration law did not require [Mr. Santillan] to provide proof of employment eligibility.” The Ninth Circuit’s ruling paved the way for Mr. Santillan to proceed with his lawsuit which resolved shortly before trial.

John currently represents the Corado family in their wrongful death lawsuit against LAPD for the shooting death of their daughter Mely Corado in 2018. Mely, an assistant manager at Trader Joe’s in Silverlake was an innocent bystander, shot and killed by the police who fired into the front of the store pursuing a criminal suspect.

In an interview with MSNBC’s Ari Melber and Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson, John talks about how the new videos show the intention of the homeless liaison officers to put their hands on his client’s late wife, and the importance of their discussion regarding Reinhold’s actions.

Related: OC Sheriffs Release Video Capturing Fatal Shooting of Kurt Reinhold

“Jane Doe” was repeatedly sexually assaulted by her nurse at Methodist Hospital of Sacramento, but neither the hospital staff nor police believed her. “She was told by the hospital that, ‘This didn’t happen to you. You’re hallucinating,’” said her John Taylor, who is representing Doe in a lawsuit. We invite you to watch the FOX 40 report to learn more, and to contact Taylor & Ring if you need help.

Honors and Awards

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