Greg Bentley, Aviation Attorney in Newport Beach, California

Greg Bentley is a trial attorney focusing in the representation of consumers on a wide variety of cases, including catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, product liability and insurance bad faith matters. Mr. Bentley’s efforts on behalf of his clients have been recognized by his peers:

• 2023 Best Lawyers of America -- Lawyer of the Year

• 2021-2023 Super Lawyers Top 50 in Orange County & Top 100 in Southern California

• 2016 Top Gun Trial Lawyer of the Year (Products Liability) by the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association

• 2014 Consumer Attorney of the Year Award by Consumer Attorneys of California

• 2013 Top Gun Trial Lawyer of the Year (Government Entity) by the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association

• 2013 Jennifer Brooks Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association

• 2012 William M. Shernoff Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys of the Inland Empire

In 2016, he was selected as a Top 100 Lawyer by the Daily Journal, and has been selected by the Daily Journal as a Top Plaintiff Attorney in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, & 2022. He has earned election to membership of the prestigious International Academy of Trial Lawyers, an invitation-only worldwide organization limited to 500 trial lawyers, is a Fellow in the International Society of Barristers and member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Mr. Bentley’s track record reflects a career dedicated to protecting consumers. Mr. Bentley’s fight for consumers includes leadership positions in various organizations.

In 2016 he served as President of the Consumer Attorneys of California, a 3,000 plus member organization charged with protecting consumer rights. Mr. Bentley currently serves on the Executive Committee of the CAOC PAC Board (2016-2020).

In 2019, Mr. Bentley was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to serve on the Orange County Judicial Selection Advisory Committee. Other leadership positions include President of the Riverside/San Bernardino ABOTA Chapter in 2015, CAL ABOTA Board 2014-2016, and President of the Consumer Attorneys of the Inland Empire from 2009-2012. Mr. Bentley has been recognized as a Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine (2010-2021) and a Top 50 Orange County Lawyer from 2017-2021.

Mr. Bentley’s Courtroom Success is Highlighted By:

1. In December of 2020, Mr. Bentley obtained a confidential 8-figure settlement on behalf of multiple homeowners who lost their homes in the 2017 Northern California wildfires. Despite maintaining insurance with the same carrier for years, and despite the insurance company recommending and even selecting the policy limits, the devastating wildfires left the homeowners without adequate insurance to even begin rebuilding their lost homes. This underinsurance problem—all too common in the property insurance industry—was instigated by insurers falsely promising to conduct detailed estimates of replacement cost value, falsely claiming they revised that estimate yearly to account for changes in construction costs, and by relying on software that knowingly underestimated the cost to rebuild insureds’ homes. Despite the vast majority of homeowners believing they are adequately insured, these factors have combined to leave upwards of 80% of homes throughout the United States underinsured in the event of a total, catastrophic loss.

2. February 2020, Mr. Bentley reached a confidential eight-figure settlement on behalf of a wide-range of clients injured by alleged product defects suffering a variety of injuries.

3. January 2020, Mr. Bentley recovered $6 million on behalf of a mother who’s nineteen-year-old daughter was killed when her car careened down an embankment on the mountain winding Bouquet Canyon Road crashing into a tree, causing her tragic death. Through 39 depositions, numerous expert studies and analysis, and local resident declarations, Mr. Bentley and his team established that the road constituted a dangerous condition for it’s lack of a guardrail. As a result of the litigation, the County of Los Angeles has now installed a guardrail on this mountain winding road, which if it had been in place at the time, would have prevented the tragic death. (Parks v. County of Los Angeles)

4. July 2012 $31.5 million jury verdict against Caltrans and a left-turning driver on behalf of a Los Angeles County prosecutor who suffered catastrophic brain and spinal cord injuries as a result of an accident on SR 138 (Evans v. Caltrans, et. al. – Victorville Daily Press article).

5. In January 2018, Mr. Bentley obtained a $30 million personal injury settlement against a large trucking company whose negligent maintenance of its fleet of trucks resulted in a driveshaft shearing off while traveling on the freeway striking 10 other vehicles before smashing through the windshield of a vehicle driven by a hard-working wife and mother of two, violently striking her in the face. The young mother suffered catastrophic injuries including severe traumatic brain injury, extensive encephalomalacia (the softening and loss of brain tissue), facial fractures, orbital fractures, nasal fractures, cognitive deficits, chronic and permanent nerve pain on her forehead due to a damaged 5th cranial nerve, numbness on her face, memory loss, headaches, severe double vision, loss of vision in her right eye, loss of smell, disfigurement, dizziness, anxiety, depression, anger, and impulsiveness. (Dominguez v. Doe.)

6. In April 2018, Mr. Bentley obtained a $26 million personal injury and wrongful death settlement on behalf of four family members who, while traveling on the freeway and slowing for traffic ahead, were slammed into from behind by a Ford Ranger traveling in excess of 75 mph and driven by a summer intern of a large construction company. The tragic accident resulted in the tragic death of one rear-seat passenger, serious head, neck, back and shoulder injuries to the driver and front seat passenger, which required several surgeries, and catastrophic injuries to the other rear-seat passenger including spinal and facial fractures, major traumatic brain injury, a crushed skull, facial disfigurement and leaving her virtually blind in one eye. (Munoz v. Doe.)

7. In July 2018, Mr. Bentley obtained a $12 million wrongful death settlement against the City of Los Angeles on behalf of the family of Alice Gruppioni, an Italian newlywed tragically killed on her honeymoon when struck by a reckless vehicle on the Venice Beach Boardwalk. The case received local and international media attention, shining a light on the City’s failure to properly secure the Boardwalk from access by unauthorized vehicles. Mr. Bentley also obtained a key ruling from the California Court of Appeal, deciding an issue of first impression, that an area such as the Boardwalk, with its high level of commercial and vendor activity, would not entitle the City of Los Angeles to “recreational trail” immunity under the California Government Code. The $12 million settlement represents the largest wrongful death settlement ever reached with the City of Los Angeles. In addition to the settlement payment, the City will install more secure barriers to protect the area and agreed to place a plaque at the location in tribute to Alice Gruppioni. (Gruppioni v. City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BC553109, consolidated as Case No. BC537145, Court of Appeal Case No. B280429.) You can read about the case here. (LA Times link), (Press Release link)

8. In September of 2015, Mr. Bentley obtained a $1.885 million jury verdict in Riverside Superior Court in a first-of-its-kind product liability case involving an e-cigarette device that exploded while charging, causing severe physical burns and a lifetime of emotional scars to his client (Jennifer Ries v. VAPCIGS – Los Angeles Times article).

9. Nationally recognized e-cigarette injury lawyer

• First jury verdict against an e-cigarette company in the United States — recovering a $1.9 million verdict on behalf of an injured user.

• Over $44 million recovered to-date on behalf of injured users against manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of e-cigarette products.

• National leader handling 200 cases in California, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

• Educating consumer attorneys about the issue – Greg Bentley has repeatedly been published and appeared at Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Attorneys of Inland Empire, Orange County Trial Lawyers Association, and others regarding e-cigarette injuries.

At the forefront of press coverage bringing attention to the harmful product – with appearances in the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Buzzfeed, Daily Journal, Sacramento Bee, ABC Los Angeles, NBC Los Angeles, CBS Los Angeles, KCAL 9 Los Angeles, Fox 11 Los Angeles, Seattle News outlets, New Jersey news outlets, and the Dr. Oz Show. You can read some of Mr. Bentley’s media coverage here regarding e-cigs here: E-Cigs Are Exploding In People’s Faces – Buzzfeed; E-Cigarette Users Sue Over Exploding Devices – Wallstreet Journal. Mr. Bentley was also a guest on the Dr. Oz show—bringing national attention to the widespread e-cigarette explosion problem. You can watch Mr. Bentley’s appearance here: https://youtu.be/ieexNnl9rDI.

1. In December 2012, Mr. Bentley was successful in obtaining a $2.3 million jury verdict in Glendale Superior Court on behalf of a 26-year Monterey Park Police Sergeant who suffered severe injuries after being struck by an Athens Services truck that pulled away from the curb directly in front of the client driving on the wrong side of the road. The client suffered significant orthopedic and urological injuries, including fractures of both wrists and a torn urethra (Wiese et al. v. Athens Disposal Company, Inc. et al.).

2. In July 2014, Mr. Bentley and Mr. More successfully obtained a $3.8 million jury verdict on behalf of a former student of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District who suffered severe injuries to his right hand during metal shop class (Zavala v Newport-Mesa Unified School District –OC Register article).

3. Believing that a Medical Group should not cut costs at the expense of medically necessary care, Mr. Bentley obtained a $820,000 jury verdict against a large Medical Group for their interference with a patient’s contractual rights to receive medical benefits under an HMO policy. His client suffered severe headaches for a long time and was wrongfully denied a timely brain MRI to diagnose what turned out to be a massive brain tumor (Medeiros v. Beaver Medical Group).

4. In April 2014, Mr. Bentley, Matthew Clark and Clare Lucich teamed up on a pro bono basis with the Inner City Law Center in representing 28 people in a lawsuit that sought to seek change in horrible living conditions. Due to the team’s litigation efforts, the matter settled on the eve of trial for nearly $4 million, including a global recovery for the clients in the amount of $680,000 in monetary damages, relocation benefits of $93,150 and a full $3,000,000 renovation of the building, including 100 units of newly refurbished affordable housing in Los Angeles. Mr. Bentley donated his fee to the Inner City Law Center to help it advance its worthy cause (Villegas, et al. v. Vista Cahuenga).

5. Bentley frequently represents clients whose insurance company fails to defend them or settle cases filed against them for amounts within their policy limits. Through an assignment of rights and covenant not to execute, Mr. Bentley obtained a Judgment against American States Insurance Company in the amount of $6,196,175 for their failure to settle a case on behalf of an insured who caused severe injuries, including wrongful death, following a head-on collision (American States Insurance Co. v. H.L.C.D, Inc.).

6. Bentley was lead counsel on behalf of 11 clients (2 adult church leaders and 9 high school students) involved in a tragic head-on collision on Highway 395, resulting in 4 deaths and major injuries to the survivors. Due to his litigation efforts, Mr. Bentley was able to uncover numerous Caltrans memorandums dating back to 1965 confirming Caltrans’ knowledge of the dangerous propensities of a 6” Type A dike along State highways, which caused wayward vehicles to violently “launch” back into oncoming traffic. This complex case resulted in 60 depositions, the production of thousands of documents and extensive expert workup. The matter settled against multiple defendants for an amount in excess of $20 million.

7. A staunch advocate for patient’s rights, Mr. Bentley took on a major HMO representing over 90 patients who lost kidney transplant opportunities following the forced transfer of their care for cost saving purposes. The litigation efforts resulted in a $17 million settlement and the transfer of all patient care back to qualified hospitals.

Memberships

• International Academy of Trial Lawyers

• American College of Trial Lawyers

• International Society of Barristers

• American Board of Trial Advocates (2015 Pres of San Bernardino / Riverside Chapter)

• Consumer Attorneys of California (Pres-2017)

• Consumer Attorneys of Inland Empire (Pres-2009-2012)

• Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles

• Orange County Trial Lawyers Association

• Orange County Bar Association

• Western San Bernardino County Bar Association