Episode 19

full
Published on:

18th Aug 2025

How Bad Faith Turned $1M into $56M, with Rahul Ravipudi

The jiu-jitsu club had a $1 million insurance policy, but when an instructor accidentally rendered a new student an incomplete quadriplegic, the carrier put its interest above their own insured’s – and paid the price. Rahul Ravipudi, who represented the victim, updates co-host Ben Gideon on the groundbreaking case. After the defendants refused to pay the policy limit, the case went to trial, and a jury awarded Rahul’s client $46 million. The defendants appealed, the judgment was affirmed, and most recently, the California Supreme Court denied the defendant’s request to review the verdict – which has increased to $56 million with interest. Rahul imagines the defense counsel and insurance adjusters discussing how many times they’ve had to actually pay the policy limit on such a case: “So, look like the hero, and save your insurance company $250,500,000. It’s that ‘penny-wise/pound foolish.’”

Learn More and Connect

☑️ Ben Gideon | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

☑️ Gideon Asen on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Rahul Ravipudi | LinkedIn | Instagram

☑️ Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

☑️ Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify 

Produced and Powered by LawPods

Sponsored by SmartAdvocate, Hype Legal, Expert Institute, Filevine, and Steno.

Show artwork for Elawvate: The Trial Lawyer Podcast

About the Podcast

Elawvate: The Trial Lawyer Podcast
Where trial lawyers learn, share, and grow
Where personal growth meets the practice of trial law, and where trial lawyers learn, share and grow to elevate their trial law practices, law firms and lives.

Produced and Powered by LawPods.com

About your hosts

Benjamin Gideon

Profile picture for Benjamin Gideon
Ben is a founding partner of Gideon Asen LLC—a plaintiff trial firm located in the State of Maine. Ben is fascinated by human nature and politics, loves to study people, read biographies and books written by other lawyers and better understand what makes people tick and how people and groups, especially juries, make important decisions.

LawPods Podcast Marketing

Profile picture for LawPods Podcast Marketing
The team behind your favorite law podcasts