Michael L. Baum

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Michael L. Baum: Attorney with Wisner Baum
Attorney Awards
  • Martindale-Hubbell Peer AV Preeminent Rating
  • Silver Client Champion
  • Avvo Client Choice
About Attorney Awards

Biography

Michael L. Baum is a senior partner of Wisner Baum (formerly Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman) based in Los Angeles. For 29 years, Michael was the managing partner of Baum Hedlund until he turned over the reins to R. Brent Wisner at the beginning of 2023.

Under Michael’s stewardship, our firm grew from a small boutique law firm to one of the nation’s leading plaintiffs’ litigation firms that is now known for its cutting edge, superior legal work. While running Baum Hedlund, the firm’s success in challenging cases and precedent-setting legal rulings has helped shape the law for the benefit of those harmed in commercial transportation accidents and by dangerous pharmaceuticals and consumer products. Michael’s ceaseless advocacy in pharmaceutical and consumer fraud litigation has brought our firm international attention and acclaim.

“When I became an attorney in 1985, we were the new kids on the block. We only had dreams of achieving the success we now enjoy,” Michael Baum says. “Our ethos from the beginning was pure and simple: we wanted to use the law to help people who had been wronged and make the world a better place. As much as we have grown over the years, that philosophy has remained, and out of it grew a culture that has attracted talented lawyers like Brent who share the same mission. He is exactly the kind of lawyer and leader that will take this firm to new heights. Wisner Baum is in good hands.”

Our firm has won billions under Michael’s leadership in consumer fraud and product liability cases against some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and life sciences corporations, including Bayer Corp. (Monsanto), Eli Lilly, Forest Labs, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pfizer, among many others.

As a sophisticated legal team, the firm has helped uncover harmful drug industry practices, chemical manufacturer misconduct and deceptive marketing schemes which have resulted in groundbreaking verdicts, major consumer safety advocacy and improved drug warning labels.

Michael has also successfully led the firm through thousands of wrongful death and personal injury cases stemming from mass disasters. These include structure fire and wildfire litigation. His experience litigating fire cases began in 1987 when he worked on the Dupont Plaza Hotel arson case, one of the deadliest hotel fires in U.S. history. He also helped litigate hundreds of homeowner and business claims that resulted in lost structures that burned down in Malibu, California as a result of the 2018 Woolsey Fire.
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Areas of Practice (14)

  • Antidepressant Birth Defect Litigation
  • Class Actions
  • Complex Litigation
  • Drug and Medical Device Litigation
  • Multi-District Litigation
  • Products Liability
  • Catastrophic Injury
  • Mass Torts
  • Wrongful Death
  • Whistleblower Litigation
  • Qui Tam Litigation
  • Toxic Torts
  • Personal Injury
  • Defective or Dangerous Pharmaceuticals

Education & Credentials

University Attended:
University of California at Los Angeles, B.A., summa cum laude, 1982
Law School Attended:
University of California at Los Angeles, J.D., summa cum laude, 1985
Year of First Admission:
1973
Admission:
1985, California; 1986, U.S. District Court, Central District of California; 1989, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California; 1989, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California; 1990, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; 1991, U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan and U.S. Supreme Court; 1993, District of Columbia; 1996, U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York and U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit; 1997, U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit; 2009, U.S. District Court, Western District of New York and U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin; 2013, U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit; 1993, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
Memberships:
State Bar of California The District of Columbia Bar Consumer Attorneys of California Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles American Association for Justice: Leader’s Forum; Qui Tam Litigation Group; Actos Bladder Cancer Litigation Group; Section on Toxic, Environmental, and Pharmaceutical Torts (STEP); Talcum Powder/Ovarian Cancer Litigation Group Supporter, Public Citizen’s Civil Justice Project
Birth Information:
Clinton, Oklahoma
Reported Cases:

Dorsett v. Sandoz, Inc., 699 F.Supp.2d 1142 (C.D.Cal. 2010) (denying defendants’ preemption motion and holding that both name-brand and generic drug manufacturers have an affirmative duty to issue warnings)

Mason v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 596 F.3d 387 (7th Cir. 2010) (unanimously reversing the trial court’s preemption ruling and allowing plaintiffs’ claims to proceed to a trial on the merits)

Collins v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 2008 WL 744070 (Pa. Ct.Com.Pl. March 11, 2008)

Grisham v. Philip Morris USA, 482 F. 3d 1131 (9th Cir. 2007)

Grisham v. Philip Morris USA, 40 Cal.4th 623, 151 P.3d 1151, 54 Cal.Rptr.3d 735 (2007)

Grisham v. Philip Morris USA, 403 F. 3d 631 (9th Cir. 2005)

Smith v. Cutter Biological, 770 So. 2d 392 (La. App. 4th Cir. 2000)

In re Air Crash at Charlotte, N.C. on July 2, 1994, 982 F.Supp. 1092 (Dist. South Carolina 1997)

In re Air Crash at Charlotte, N.C. on July 2, 1994, 982 F.Supp. 1086 (Dist. South Carolina 1997)

In re Air Crash at Charlotte, N.C. on July 2, 1994, 982 F.Supp. 1084 (Dist. South Carolina 1997)

Ex parte Knight Ridder, Inc., 982 F.Supp. 1080 (Dist. South Carolina 1997)

In re Air Crash at Charlotte, N.C. on July 2, 1994, 982 F.Supp. 1071 (Dist. South Carolina 1995)

In re Air Crash at Charlotte, N.C. on July 2, 1994, 982 F.Supp. 1060 (Dist. South Carolina 1996)

In re Air Crash at Charlotte, N.C. on July 2, 1994, 982 F.Supp. 1056 (Dist. South Carolina 1996)

In re Air Crash at Charlotte, N.C. on July 2, 1994, 982 F.Supp. 1052 (Dist. South Carolina 1995)

ISLN:
909190147

Payment Information

Other Information
Free initial consultation, Fixed fees available

Peer Reviews

5.0/5.0 (6 reviews)
Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent Rating Badge

  • Legal Knowledge

    5.0/5.0

  • Analytical Capability

    5.0/5.0

  • Judgment

    5.0/5.0

  • Communication

    5.0/5.0

  • Legal Experience

    5.0/5.0

  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Managing Partner on 02/24/13 in Mass Torts

    Michael is a very impressive individual and lawyer. I give him my highest rating..

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Senior Associate on 03/12/13 in Products Liability

    Fantastic attorney with good instincts and willing to take on large companies. Good grasp of inherent difficulties of large litigation and how best to navigate cases forward.

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Managing Partner on 05/10/13 in Products Liability

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Partner on 03/25/13 in Products Liability

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Managing Partner on 03/04/13 in Personal Injury

    I have known Michael professionally since 1990 and give him the highest recommendation.

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Partner on 02/23/13 in Mass Torts

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Peer reviews submitted prior to 2008 are not displayed.

Other Legal Directories

Avvo Client Review
4.9/5.0 (16 reviews)
Client Choice Award Client Champion

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Lawyers Client Review
5.0/5.0 (3 reviews)
Silver Client Champion

I was very pleased with the legal team at Wisner Baum. From our first phone consultation, everything was explained to me in terms I could easily understand. Although there were bumps along the way, I...

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Contact Michael L. Baum

Contact Information:

310-893-3348  Phone

310-820-7444  Fax

www.wisnerbaum.com/attorneys/michael-l-baum

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