Joshua J. Youssefi
Lead Trial Attorney
Joshua J. Youssefi is Lead Trial Attorney at Bickel Sannipoli APC. As a trial attorney at the firm, Joshua has proven himself a fierce advocate in both state and federal court, routinely obtaining highly favorable statutory repurchase settlements for his clients.
While the great majority of Joshua’s cases have been resolved without the need for a jury trial, Joshua has enjoyed a successful run of consecutive trial wins against a number of automotive manufacturers. Some of Josh’s recent trial verdicts and awards as lead trial attorney are as follows:
- Ismailyan v. Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC. United States District Court, Central District of California (2019). Jaguar Land Rover was represented by Michael Hurvitz and Patrick Raue of Bowman and Brooke LLP. Joshua argued that Land Rover’s internal documents demonstrated that the brake squeal was a known problem and that Mr. Ismailyan’s after-market wheels were not the cause. The jury returned a unanimous verdict for Mr. Ismailyan.
- Sislin v. Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. Orange County Superior Court (2020). Toyota was represented by Sean Beatty and James Werner of Beatty & Myers, LLP. Joshua maintained that Toyota’s dealerships failed to take the necessary steps to properly diagnose the concern after the Sislins’ videos of the steering defect were brought to the dealerships’ attention. The jury awarded a repurchase to the Sislin family.
- Mayen & Espana v. BMW of North America, LLC. Orange County Superior Court (2020). BMW was represented by Robert Dixon and Olivia Miner of Wilson Turner Kosmo LLP. Joshua argued that BMW’s internal documents demonstrated that the brake squeal was a widespread problem, establishing that BMW had refused to repurchase the vehicle in bad faith. The arbitrator awarded Ms. Mayen and Mr. Espana a statutory repurchase and an additional civil penalty award in excess of $65,000 for BMW’s wilful violation of the Act.
- Lorz v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. Solano County Superior Court (2021). Toyota was represented by Thomas Murphy and Cody Shubert of Sutton & Murphy. Joshua maintained that the car’s B-pillar noise was caused by broken spot welds and that Toyota had acted in bad faith in denying the Lorz’s repurchase requests. The jury returned a unanimous verdict for the Lorz family, awarding a repurchase and assessing a maximum allowable civil penalty against Toyota for its wilful failure to comply with the Act.
- Robinson v. Kia Motors America, Inc. Los Angeles County Superior Court (2021). Kia was represented by Julian Senior and Siyun Yao of SJL Law LLP. Joshua proved that the check engine light continuously activated due to a widespread emissions defect in 2017 Kira Niro vehicles. The jury returned a unanimous verdict for Mr. Robinson.
In 2023, Joshua was selected by Super Lawyers as a 2023 Raising Star. Only 2.5% of the lawyers in California are selected by Super Lawyers to receive this award each year.
As Chicago natives, Joshua, his wife Shannon, and two daughters, Bri and Brooke, enjoy exploring everything California has to offer without ever having to worry about a snowstorm.
