A result is the record of the work behind it. The Vertanous Firm has recovered more than $60 Million for injured Californians in verdicts and settlements, including a $22.6 Million jury verdict against the City of Los Angeles. Every number on this page is real, every number is labeled exactly what it is, and every number was earned on its own facts. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
The Verdict
A pedestrian was struck on the head by a falling municipal light-pole cap. The case did not settle. It was tried, fourteen days of jury trial against the City of Los Angeles in Soto Luna v. City of Los Angeles, and the jury found liability eleven to one.
TopVerdict ranked the verdict across its 2023 lists, quoted exactly as published:
We wrote about how the case was built: the $22.6 Million verdict against the City of Los Angeles. The practice it came from is the firm's signature work: dangerous condition of public property.
The Stipulated Judgment
Some numbers need precise labels, and this one gets it: a stipulated judgment, not a verdict, and not part of the firm's recovered totals.
A pedestrian was crossing the street when an impaired driver killed him. His sole heir was his mother, who lives with dementia. The defense argued that her memory loss erased her grief, that her loss counted for nothing. The judgment, entered by stipulation for the full $26,000,000.00 against the individual defendant, said otherwise. Ruano de Diaz, Los Angeles Superior Court, 2026.
We report this result exactly as it is: a judgment entered by stipulation against an individual defendant. It is not included in the $60 Million+ the firm has recovered for clients, and we never combine the two figures.
The Settlements
Most cases resolve before a jury is sworn. The number a case settles for reflects what the defense believed a jury would do with it, which is why every one of these files was built for trial first.
Catastrophic injuries from an explosion at an illegally operated marijuana dispensary, resolved by settlement in Castillo. TopVerdict 2025 ranked it No. 2 of the Top 10 Premises Liability Settlements in California, No. 9 of the Top 10 Personal Injury Settlements in Los Angeles, and No. 11 of the Top 20 Personal Injury Settlements in California. The practice behind it: premises liability.
A sexual-assault recovery on theories of negligent security and premises liability. We do not publish details that could identify the client, and we never will. The practice behind it: civil cases for survivors of sexual assault.
A catastrophic worksite injury at an amusement facility, Bravo, referred to the firm by outside counsel, with the fee division honored under California Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5.1. TopVerdict 2025 ranked it among the Top 100 Personal Injury Settlements in California. The legal fight at its center, the Privette doctrine, is explained in our worksite injury article. Referring counsel: this is what a referred file looks like here. See the referrals page.
Catastrophic injury from a motor vehicle collision, Najera, resolved at mediation after the independent medical examination and life-care planning were complete. TopVerdict 2025 ranked it among the Top 100 Personal Injury Settlements in California, the Top 50 Personal Injury Settlements in Los Angeles, the Top 20 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in Los Angeles, and the Top 50 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California. The practice behind it: car accidents.
Your case deserves the same preparation.
Free Case ReviewWrongful Death
Wrongful death results are not victories. They are a measure of accountability for a family that would trade every dollar to undo the loss. Two results, each $2.0 Million:
A family's recovery despite the decedent's blood-alcohol level of 0.356, more than four times the legal limit. The defense's favorite argument in these cases is that the decedent's own choices end the family's claim. This result answered it. How the law treats fault of the decedent is explained in our article on wrongful death when the decedent was at fault.
The decedent died in a fire he ignited. The firm recovered for the family on a theory of preventable conditions. The hardest facts do not end a case. They change how it must be built. The practice behind both results: wrongful death.
Additional Results
Not every result carries a public story. An $875,000 resolution in a contested-liability injury matter, resolved short of trial. A $750,000 negotiated resolution for serious injuries with disputed damages. Three additional matters resolved at or above $500,000. The confidential files get the same preparation as the headline ones, because the client in each of them has exactly one case.
Recognition
Every TopVerdict ranking on this page is quoted exactly as TopVerdict published it. The firm's earlier results carry their own: the $2.0 Million wrongful death settlement in Vasquez v. 950 Gramercy was ranked by TopVerdict 2020 among the Top 20 Premises Liability Settlements in the United States and in California, the Top 50 Wrongful Death Settlements in the United States, and the Top 20 Wrongful Death Settlements in California. TopVerdict also recognized the firm in the Top 10 Bench Awards in California for 2023 (Dominguez v. Mental Health Center).
Beyond the case rankings, Super Lawyers named Tom Vertanous to its Rising Stars list in 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026, and The National Trial Lawyers named him to its Top 40 Under 40.
Read This Part Too
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. That sentence is not fine print to us. It is the truth about how cases work. Every case turns on its own liability facts, its own medicine, its own witnesses, and its own available coverage. A number on this page tells you how this firm works a case. It does not tell you what your case is worth.
What your case is worth is a question we answer the honest way: after we know the facts. The consultation is free, the evaluation is straight, and if the case belongs with a different kind of lawyer, we will say so.
Tell us what happened. We respond the same day.
Get a Free ConsultationIf we don't win, you don't pay.
The consultation is free. The representation is on contingency. If there is no recovery, you owe no attorney fee.
Questions About Results
No, and no honest lawyer would tell you otherwise. Every result on this page was earned on its own facts: its own liability picture, its own medicine, and its own available coverage. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. What the results show is how this firm builds a case when the stakes are high.
A verdict is what a jury awards after trial. A settlement is an agreement that resolves the case before a verdict, and it is how most cases end. A judgment is the court's final order in a case. A stipulated judgment is a judgment the court enters on terms the parties have agreed to.
A judgment entered by the court based on the parties' agreement rather than a jury's verdict. The $26 Million result on this page is a stipulated judgment entered against an individual defendant in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2026. We label it precisely because precision matters: it is not a verdict, and it is not counted in the firm's recovered totals.
TopVerdict publishes annual rankings of the largest reported verdicts and settlements in the United States and in each state. Every ranking cited on this page was published by TopVerdict for the firm's actual results and is quoted exactly as issued, including the No. 1 California verdict of 2023 in its category.
Because some resolutions are confidential, and some clients, particularly survivors of sexual assault, deserve their privacy. We list the amount and the nature of the matter, and nothing that could identify the client. A firm that trades client privacy for marketing is telling you how it will treat yours.
Verdicts and settlements recovered for the firm's clients. It does not include the $26 Million stipulated judgment, which is reported separately on this page and is never folded into recovered totals. When we publish a number, the label on it is exact.
Preparation the other side can see. Liability proven with evidence rather than adjectives, medicine documented by treating physicians, future care priced through life-care planning, and a firm the defense knows will pick a jury. Carriers and defense counsel price cases on trial risk. These results are what that pricing looks like when the case is built.
Client Reviews
Ani A., Glendalevia Yelp"The guy who hit me had a low max coverage. I don't know what magic Vertanous Firm worked, but I got paid for my damages less than a year out from my accident, and was paid three times more than the policy limit."
Tony K., Burbankvia Yelp"Tom is the absolute best. He knows the law and he also knows medicine. One meeting with Tom and he was able to understand the medicine behind my condition and find the appropriate doctors."
Bobby S., Los Angelesvia Yelp"Tom is a straight shooter and he's whip-smart. He treated my case as though it were his own. He has a gift for compassion that sets him apart from other legal professionals."
Where We Work
From our office at 301 N. Lake Ave in Pasadena, we represent injured clients across the San Gabriel Valley and all of Los Angeles County, in English, Armenian, and Farsi.
Contact
Call, text, email, or send a brief message. We respond the same day. Free consultation. No fee unless we win.
