Thomas Penfield, a partner in the firm, has significant experience in personal injury, and products liability litigation, especially auto, bicycle, dog attack and premises cases. Recently, he was peer-selected as one of San Diego County's “Top Attorneys 2009" (Personal Injury) by his fellow attorneys as compiled by the San Diego Daily Transcript, July 2009. Also, Super Lawyers Magazine recognized him for the second year in a row as a Super Lawyer in San Diego (top 5% of Personal Injury Attorneys). A leader in the local bar, he is the President of the BarAssociation of North San Diego County. He has also served as both an officer and a member of its Board of Directors and is the past chairman of its Personal Injury section. Additionally, the American Bar Association recently named him Chair of the Task Force on Plaintiff Involvement of its Torts and Insurance Practice Section, and he serves as an officer on the Bicycle Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice. Mr. Penfield is a Fellow in the National College of Advocacy of the American Association for Justice, and a Fellow in the American Bar Foundation [One-third of 1% of licensed attorneys].  He is a frequent faculty member and speaker at the National College of Trial Advocacy for AAJ, the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, and at the University of  San Diego Law School.Mr. Penfield enjoys his work and finds it meaningful.  "I help people with serious injuries put their lives  back together."Mr. Penfield has handled several multi-million dollar cases during his tenure with the firm. In one case, he served as co-counsel in a jury trial, representing H&H Cerritos against U.S. Mineral Products, Inc., and  obtained a $14.1 million jury verdict.A high profile settlement saw Mr. Penfield successfully represent thirteenHonda dealers as plaintiffs in a civil proceeding arising from a case the U.S. Attorney described as "the largest commercial bribery case in U.S. history." More recently, Mr. Penfield successfully represented the family of a slain Navy veteran, who was stabbed to death following an altercation at a local San Diego bar.  It became newsworthy because of its unusually successful result. Mr. Penfield generated significant interest with his jury trial result in Vista, California, concerning a difficult case involving a fall by a student at a vocational school, which resulted in a recovery of nearly $500,000 through a jury trial verdict. Even before that verdict, he attracted attention with his excellent result in a difficult "Slip and Fall" case, which resulted in a jury verdict of $261,000. Mr. Penfield has helped recover over $90 million for the firm's various clients. In 1996, Mr. Penfield was the proud recipient of the Environmental Lawyer of the Year Award from the Sierra Club's San Diego Chapter. In 2003, he was awarded the President's Star Award by the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego.Mr. Penfield instructs other attorneys on jury trial techniques, and has served as faculty for both the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and the Trial Lawyers College of the American Association for Justice.  After graduating from law school, Mr. Penfield worked as a supervising trial lawyer with the Defenders Program of San Diego, and then as a full-time clinical Professor at the University of San Diego Law School before joining the firm. He continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of San Diego Law School, teaching the basic jury trial skills class. He has an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell, the highest rating available.As part of his personal commitment to public service, Mr. Penfield has served as Chairman and Member of the San Diego County Juvenile Justice Commission, a pro tem Judge, as well as an Arbitrator for the San Diego Superior Court. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club of San Diego.In his spare time, Mr. Penfield enjoys photography, jogging and singing, and formerly played guitar in a popular local rock band. He and his wife Leslie live in Cardiff-by-the-Sea.  They have five grown children and their first grandchild. They are active in fundraising for scientific research on Huntington’s Disease, a degenerative brain disease for which there is no cure.