Greene days over, Panish makes his move.

Prominent plaintiff's attorney Brian Panish has left Greene Broillet Panish & Wheeler LLP on the heels of handling several multimillion-dollar verdicts in product liability cases.

"I feel like I've accomplished a lot," said Panish, who joined Greene Broillet's predecessor firm in 1987. "It's time to start doing my own firm."

Panish, along with partner Adam Shea and two other lawyers, have formed Panish Shea & Boyle LLP in West Los Angeles. The new firm is handling former Greene Broillet cases including several airplane crash cases, product liability suits against Ford Motor Co. and an insurance case brought on behalf of corporate clients of Marsh & MeLellan Cos.

"Brian leaving leaves a hole," said Browne Greene, whose firm now has 13 lawyers. "But I always figured it was inevitable. He's become so prominent and very ambitious and needed to have his own name on the door."

In his 12-year tenure as a partner at Greene Broillet, Panish obtained 100 verdicts and settlements of more than $1 million each. In 1999, he gained recognition for obtaining a $4.9 billion verdict against General Motors Corp. on behalf of four children and two adults who were burned because of a defective fuel tank in a Chevrolet Malibu. In 2001, he helped reach a $55.3 million verdict for a 34-year-old who became a quadriplegic due to a defective tire in a case against Continental Tire North America. And last year, he won a $58 million verdict on behalf of a man who was burned on the job because of a defective O-ring on a Caterpillar tractor.

With the departures, Greene Broillet's name changed this month to Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP.

Staff reporter Amanda Bronstad can be reached at [phone], ext. 225, or at [e-mail]. Staff reporter Howard Fine contributed to this column.