About Erika Contreras

Erika Contreras is a partner at Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP and focuses her practice on catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, and motor carrier liability cases. Licensed in California and Nevada, Ms. Contreras has obtained millions of dollars in awards for her clients, including many seven-figure and eight-figure verdicts and settlements.

Born and raised in Los Angeles to Mexican immigrants, Ms. Contreras uses her background to connect with her Spanish speaking clients and help them navigate the legal system with trust and confidence. She and her husband have four children and reside in Cerritos, California.

Ms. Contreras is honored to be named the 2025 Attorney of the Year by the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association and recognized as among the 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers in the country as well as a 2025 Women of Influence: Attorneys by the Los Angeles Business Journal. In 2024, Ms. Contreras was named among the Top Women Lawyers in California by Daily Journal, named among the Los Angeles Business Journal's Women of Influence, and named to the publication's list of Minority Attorneys | Leader of Influence. Additionally, she is recognized among Los Angeles Magazine's Top Women Attorneys in Southern California and has been named to the list of both the Southern California Super Lawyers and the Best Lawyers in America since 2020.

Ms. Contreras was the 2023 recipient of the California Lawyer's Attorney of the Year Award ("CLAY") by the Daily Journal for her work on Sepulveda v. Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District. The CLAY Awards is awarded annually to a select group of attorneys throughout the state "for achievements with a significant impact on public policy, the law, the profession, or a particular practice area."

She also received the 2022 Trailblazer Award from the Latina Lawyers Bar Association and was honored among other Latina Trailblazers including the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, the Hon. Patricia Guerrero.

Ms. Contreras serves on the Latina Lawyers Bar Association Board of Directors and as the Southern California Membership Chair for the Consumer Attorneys of California's Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Proven verdicts and settlements at Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP

These results are credited to Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.

$1.2 billionVerdictTop 20 in California · #6

A Los Angeles jury ordered General Motors to pay $4.9 billion after a 1979 Chevrolet Malibu's rear-mounted fuel tank ruptured and burned six occupants in a rear-end crash, the largest US personal-injury verdict at the time.

Los Angeles, CA (LA County Superior Court) · 1999Product LiabilityRead the full story →

Kevin Boyle of the firm served as one of three plaintiffs' co-lead counsel in the $800 million settlement with MGM Resorts for victims of the 2017 Route 91 Harvest festival mass shooting at Mandalay Bay.

Las Vegas, NV (Clark County District Court) · 2020Premises LiabilityRead the full story →

A Los Angeles County jury ordered Rebecca Grossman and former Major League pitcher Scott Erickson to pay $198.17 million for the deaths of two brothers, ages 11 and 8, struck in a marked crosswalk near their home.

Los Angeles, CA (Van Nuys, LA County Superior Court) · 2026Wrongful DeathRead the full story →

A Las Vegas jury awarded hedge fund manager David Moradi $160.5 million after Cosmopolitan security personnel beat him at the Marquee nightclub and left him with a traumatic brain injury, and a confidential settlement followed during deliberations on punitive damages.

Las Vegas, NV (Clark County District Court) · 2017Premises LiabilityRead the full story →
$121.5 millionVerdictTop 20 in California · #14

A Riverside County jury found Moreno Valley Unified School District 90 percent at fault for keeping teacher Thomas Lee West in the classroom for two decades despite molestation complaints, awarding $135 million to two former students he abused.

Riverside County, CA (Superior Court) · 2023Sexual AbuseRead the full story →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of California
State Bar of Nevada

Other attorneys at Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP

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Proven verdicts and settlements from other Los Angeles firms

Taylor & Ring, LLP
Taylor & Ring, LLP
$47.41 million · Road Rage Chase That Killed Torrance Teen Ends in $61.7 Million Jury Verdict
McGee Lerer Ogrin
McGee Lerer Ogrin
$122.5 Million Settlement for 124 Survivors of Police Activities League Volunteer Eric Uller
West Coast Trial Lawyers
West Coast Trial Lawyers
$13.1 million · Federal Jury Awards $13.1 Million to Parents of Man Shot in the Back by Riverside County Deputy
Wilshire Law Firm
Wilshire Law Firm
$35.3 Million Verdict for 81-Year-Old Backseat Passenger Rear-Ended by Tractor-Trailer on the 10 Freeway
Wisner Baum LLP
Wisner Baum LLP
$56.01 million · $1.04 Billion Roundup Verdict for Livermore Retiree With Brain Lymphoma

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.