John David Rowell

Biographical Information

Lawsuits are not won by luck. In fact, more often than anyone would like to admit, people with valid claims lose. Careful planning and preparation both before and during trial makes a huge difference. John plans far ahead, anticipates and preempts the defense in his cases. This has made a tremendous difference in the results. This ability to plan ahead is not surprising as John is an internationally-rated chess player.

John has been practicing law for almost thirty years and has seven and eight figure verdicts. He is a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Cheong, Denove, Rowell & Bennett. He has focused much of his time and effort on products liability cases, representing clients who have been catastrophically injured or whose loved ones have been killed as a result of defective products.

John started his career working on Grinshaw v. Ford Motor Co., the famous Pinto exploding gas tank case, and on the Paris Air Crash case, where a defective cargo door cost the lives of all on board.

He has handled all types of products liability cases, including actions where injury was caused by defective design or manufacture of cars, tires, air bags, aircraft, medical devices, drugs, industrial machinery, and other consumer products.

He has authored numerous articles on products liability, including: Ford Explorer: History Repeats Itself; Tire Tread Separation - Two Theories of Liability ; Electronic Crash Sensing in Air Bag Litigation; The Industrial Machinery and Tool Products Liability Case and more.

John Rowell has been a pioneer in the field of consumer safety. He is currently serving on the California Plaintiffs Committee for the Explorer Firestone Tire cases. He is a member of Attorneys Information Exchange Group (AIEG), a national litigation group specializing in automotive and other product defect cases.

Products liability is a particularly challenging area of the law. John uses compelling demonstrative evidence and expert witnesses to support his clients' case.

An awarding winning, California trial attorney, John fights for the rights of people who have been injured and families of those who have died as a result of accidents or defective products in cases such as:

Auto Defects : the exploding Pinto gas tank; defective car parts including: windshields and glass, tires , seats, restraint systems (seat belts, seat belt latching devices and air bags), defective lack of stability and handling, vehicle skate, lack of strength and welding (crashworthiness), door latches, transmission defects (part to reverse cases) and SUV rollovers.

Product Defects : defective construction equipment, hydraulic systems, conveyor belts, mixing vats, hydraulic systems, work tools, cauterization tools, and other medical devices.

Personal Injury Accidents : truck, bus, car and motorcycle accidents. A motor vehicle accident may occur because of a defect in the vehicle itself, which may open the door to a product liability case. In many motor vehicle accidents, the injuries may be exacerbated by product defects. In other motor vehicle accidents the accident itself may have been caused by defective products. In single vehicle motor vehicle accidents the product is often the sole cause. In each of these situations, product defect becomes the most important part of the case.

Wrongful Death

A person injured by a defective product may be entitled to recover damages for: hospital and medical expenses; past and future lost earnings; past and future permanent physical disability such as quadriplegia, paraplegia, paralysis, loss of limb and chronic pain.

The injured person is also entitled to pain and suffering damages which include compensation for physical pain, emotional suffering, disfigurement, anxiety, depression and loss of enjoyment of life.

When a defective product causes a death, the family may be entitled to recover damages for medical expenses, funeral expenses, loss of financial support as well as the loss of love, companionship, comfort, protection and guidance caused by the death of a family member.

As a California products liability attorney, John has handled hundreds of cases for victims of unsafe products and has taken on many corporate giants, including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Freight Liner, Honda, Isuzu, Subaru, Nissan, Toyota, Goodyear, Goodrich, Firestone , Bridgestone, TRW, Boeing, McDonald Douglas, State Farm, Hartford, Farmers, Truck, Time Warner, CBS, Hyundai, Caterpillar, Disneyland, Greyhound, Magic Mountain and others.

He has received awards and certificates of appreciation from several organizations including the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles and the Consumer Attorneys Association of California.

John received both his bachelor's degree and law degree from the University of Southern California. His interests outside the practice of law include chess, basketball and horses.