A.Ilyas Akbari

A. Ilyas Akbari is the Founder and President of KENNEDY WILSHIRE PC, Beverly Hills, California. Mr. Akbari is not only a trial lawyer but also a bioengineer. He has a vast experience in aviation litigation and has handled over 200 aviation cases since 2005. His expertise includes crashes and incidents involving various types of aircraft, such as commercial airlines, charter operations, general aviation aircraft, military aircraft, seaplanes, rescue, and air ambulance aircraft. He also has experience litigating product liability claims against many aircraft and part manufacturers, including 29 cases against Robinson Helicopter Company, Inc. Mr. Akbari obtained his B.S. in Bioengineering from U.C. San Diego, which has one of the top five Bioengineering programs globally. At U.C. San Diego, he was the founding Vice President of the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers. While studying at Southwestern University School of Law, he served as President of the Student Bar Association and as a Certified Law Clerk at the District Attorney's Office in East Los Angeles, conducting preliminary hearings and misdemeanor trials.

Mr. Akbari is a seasoned attorney who has dealt with many high-profile cases involving transportation accidents. These include incidents with airplanes, trains, buses, tractor-trailers, school buses, and duck boats. One notable case was the 2015 Duckboat crash in Seattle, which resulted in a $20 million verdict for two college-aged boys from Austria who lost their mother while on vacation. Mr. Akbari has also represented clients in some of the biggest rail disasters in the U.S., such as the 2017 Amtrak Cascades 501 derailment near DuPont, Washington, the 2015 Amtrak 188 derailment cases in Philadelphia, and the 2012 CSX coal train derailment in Ellicott City, Maryland. He was also part of the leadership team that litigated the two largest commuter rail disasters in Southern California: the 2005 Glendale crash and the 2008 collision in Chatsworth. Mr. Akbari is not afraid to take on pharmaceutical companies as well and has been appointed by the court to serve on behalf of all filed cases as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committees for the Bisphenol-A (BPA) Polycarbonate Plastic Products Liability Litigation and the Heparin Products Liability Multi-District Litigation (MDL). Mr. Akbari's degree in bioengineering has become beneficial. He enjoys blending his expertise in science and law to uncover the truth through the scientific process. From determining the cause of an aircraft crash to understanding the long-term effects of traumatic brain injuries, Mr. Akbari is dedicated to his work. He devotes much of his time to studying the latest developments in brain injury science and is an active member of several professional associations including the National Brain Injury Trial Lawyers Association - Top 25, the Biomedical Engineering Society, North American Brain Injury Society, Brain Injury Association of America, and the California Brain Injury Association. Mr. Akbari is particularly passionate about raising awareness that all brain injuries should be taken seriously and does not tolerate those who describe them as "mild."

Mr. Akbari has held many leadership positions and has been involved in representing clients in several major airline disasters, including the September 11 Litigation, American Airlines Flight 587, Air Midwest Flight 5481 (which resulted in the first public apology by an airline), Southwest Airlines Flights 1248 and 1380, TACA Flight 390, Continental Airlines Flight 1404, Colgan Flight 3407, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 (which settled before voir dire), Malaysia Air Flight 370 (MH370), Germanwings Flight 9525, and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 (Boeing MAX8 litigation), among others. Mr. Akbari is currently serving as the Plaintiffs' Vice Chair to the Aviation and Space Law General Committee of the American Bar Association, which is the world's largest. He has been the Editor of the ABA Aviation and Space Law Committee Newsletter since 2020, an Editor of The Brief Editorial Board Standing Committee (ABA), and a Member of the ABA Plaintiffs Practice Standing Committee. Mr. Akbari is also honored to be a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, which is an invitation-only trial lawyer honorary society that represents less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers.

Mr. Akbari has received numerous awards and recognitions for his exceptional legal work. Since 2016, he has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® in the Consumer Protection and Plaintiffs Product Liability Litigation categories. He was also named Lawyer of the Year by the Wall Street Journal® in Southern California in 2020 and 2021. Additionally, Los Angeles Magazine lists him as one of Southern California's Top 100 Lawyers, and Southern California Super Lawyers® has recognized him as a top-rated Aviation & Aerospace attorney since 2007. Mr. Akbari has also received honors from the National Trial Lawyers, Aviation Trial Lawyers Association, and National Association of Distinguished Counsel. He has earned outstanding ratings from Lawyers.com/Martindale Hubbell®, Avvo.com, and The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers™. The National Law Journal and ALM Media recognized Mr. Akbari and his team in 2018 as Elite Trial Lawyers finalists in the Consumer Protection category for their achievement in representing the family of the only two American residents onboard Germanwings Flight 9525, whose co-pilot committed suicide by locking out the pilot and crashing the plane into the French Alps, killing all 150 souls. Mr. Akbari and his team successfully proved that the airline was responsible for the deaths of the two Virginia Americans as the German airline sold its tickets to passengers through its authorized agent and proxy, United Airlines.

Often called upon by the media to comment on his cases or the news of the day, Mr. Akbari has appeared over 2,000 times internationally on tv, print, and radio. As a leading attorney in his field, Mr. Akbari often mentors other young attorneys to educate them on various legal tactics and strategies. He also advises other firms in various matters, such as a firm that needed help on a rapidly approaching brain injury trial. Mr. Akbari traveled to Trinidad, Colorado, where he acted as consulting counsel (free of charge) for a firm that represented a high school student that suffered a brain injury during football practice, resulting in an $11.5 million verdict in 2013 (Ridolfi v. Riddell). Mr. Akbari has helped recover verdicts, awards, and settlements totaling over $400,000,000.