The Honorable Peter
J. Polos (ret.) is Of Counsel to the firm and serves as its
Director of Litigation. In that role, he assists in overseeing the
firm's entire litigation practice, providing a unique perspective as
both an experienced trial lawyer and as a judge who understands
effective case presentation.
Prior to joining Panish Shea Boyle LLP, Judge
Polos spent eight years as a Superior Court Judge in Orange County,
California. He was appointed to the bench by Governor Gray Davis in
2001 and sat for almost five years on the General Civil Panel hearing
complex tort, business, employment and product liability cases. He
presided over 250 trials, including the City of Anaheim v. L. A. Angels
of Anaheim naming case as well as numerous other high profile cases. His
assignments also included handling misdemeanor and felony criminal jury
trials. During his time on the bench, Judge Polos was appointed by the
Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court to serve two terms as a
member of the Judicial Council's Civil and Small Claims Advisory
Committee. He served on both the Complex and Uniform Rules
Subcommittees and Co-chaired the committee for Minor's Compromise
reform. Judge Polos served two terms as an alternate on the Court's
Executive Committee and was a long time member of the Grand Jury
Selection Committee and the Educational Committee. He previously served
on the Court Technology Committee and the Court Referral Program
Advisory Council. He also was asked by the presiding judge to serve as a
mentor Judge to newly appointed Judges.
Before his appointment to the bench in 2001, Judge
Polos practiced complex plaintiff's litigation, including mass tort, product liability and
medical malpractice cases. Judge Polos served as a member of the
Plaintiff's Executive Committee of the Coordinated Fen/Phen Litigation,
on the Executive Committee for the Coordinated Ford/Firestone
Litigation, and as Co-Lead Counsel for Southern California for the
Coordinated Sulzer Hip Litigation. He was the primary handling attorney
on over 2000 Superior Court Cases which resulted in over one billion
dollars in settlements. The mass tort cases he has been involved with
collectively have settled for over seven billion dollars. Judge Polos
practiced with David M. Harney in Los Angeles from 1990 to 1996 and was a
partner at Lopez, Hodes, Restaino, Milman, Skikos Polos in
Newport Beach from 1996 to December 2001.
Judge Polos attended UCLA on a Water Polo scholarship
and earned his undergraduate degree in Economics in 1987. While at
UCLA, he was a member of the Air Force ROTC and earned one of two quotas
given to all Southern California ROTC members to enter flight school
after graduation. He also earned his pilot's license for a Cessna 152
while at UCLA. Judge Polos graduated from Loyola Law School with his JD
in 1990.
Judge Polos is a member of the American Board of
Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He serves on the ABTL Judicial Advisory
Committee and is a member of the Banyard Inn of Court. He was the 2003
recipient of the W. Patrick McCray award presented by the West Orange
County Bar Association. Judge Polos has two children in elementary
school and has been married to his wife, Kristie, for over 12 years.
His hobbies include coaching his kids' sports teams and golf.
