Atty. Michael L. Baum
Michael L. Baum is the senior partner of Wisner Baum (formerly Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman).
Profile Summary
About Michael L. Baum at a glance
Michael L. Baum is a personal injury, class action, product liability, and consumer attorney based in Los Angeles, California, practicing at Wisner Baum PC. Admitted to practice in California, State Bar of California and District of Columbia, United States. Educated at University of California - Los Angeles (J.D., 1985) and University of California - Los Angeles (B.A., 1982). Recognitions include Lawyer of the Year — Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs (Los Angeles) (2026), Best Lawyers in America — Consumer Protection Law (2026), and Best Lawyers in America — Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs (2026). Serands clients in Los Angeles, CA and the surrounding metropolitan area.
Want to Get Service From This Attorney?
Sign up free and choose one of the two methods below.
Have a legal question? Sign up free, submit it through the Ask the Attorney module and receive a focused answer from a specialist.
- Free to ask a question
- Answers from specialist attorneys
- Optional private / anonymous question
Request an online video meeting or an in-person consultation at the attorney's office. Pick a time that works for you and share the details securely.
- Online video meeting
- In-person at the attorney's office
- Secure messaging and payment
About
- Michael L. Baum is the senior partner of Wisner Baum (formerly Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman)
- For 29 years he was Baum Hedlund’s managing partner until 2023 when he proudly turned over the reins to R. Brent Wisner
- During his time at the helm, he led the firm through thousands of wrongful death and personal injury cases stemming from harmful major pharmaceutical drugs, consumer products, and commercial transportation.He began his career in 1985, primarily handling airline accidents and other commercial transportation disasters but then turned his focus to pharmaceutical product liability litigation, harmful, medical devices, dangerous herbicides, and consumer products.“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.”Under Michael’s leadership, we developed a reputation as a law firm that can be counted upon to go above and beyond what is needed to get the job done, a firm known for its cutting-edge, superior legal work in complex litigation
- Michael’s ceaseless advocacy in pharmaceutical and consumer fraud litigation has brought our firm international recognition.Michael is very proud of the work we did in the tainted hemophilia medication litigation
- In 1999, Michael served on the trial team in the only Hemophiliac AIDS case to go before a jury
- Michael and the trial team represented Leo and Shirley Dixon, whose son, Ken Dixon, contracted the HIV virus and AIDS allegedly as a result of using hemophilia medication contaminated with HIV.Evidence presented at trial showed the medication Ken Dixon used was plasma-derived medication contaminated from the use of high-risk donors with the HIV virus
- The jurors found that two of the medication manufacturers, Cutter Biological and Alpha Therapeutics, were strictly liable for product liability, negligence, and fraud
- The jurors further found that after Ken Dixon initially was infected with the AIDS virus (which was not known to him at the time), the continued use of the contaminated products further aggravated Ken’s condition, exacerbating and accelerating the development of AIDS
- The jury awarded Leo and Shirley Dixon $35.3 million in survival and wrongful death damages
- Although the judge overturned the verdict based on a technical issue, the verdict provided essential justice for not only the Dixon family but for hemophiliacs across the country who have suffered and died as a result of their HIV-infected medication.Fast-forward twenty years later, to find Michael continuing to fight for those injured by Big Pharma products
- The National Law Journal recognized Michael and his team as 2018 Elite Trial Lawyers and Pharmaceutical Litigation first place winners for their unprecedented jury verdict against a brand-name drug manufacturer (GSK) for the wrongful death of a man who took a generic form of Paxil.Michael served on the trial team for three of the first Monsanto Roundup lawsuits to go before juries
- In the first trial, Michael and a team of lawyers represented Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, a Benicia, California school district groundskeeper, who alleged exposure to Monsanto herbicides caused him to develop terminal non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- A jury in San Francisco unanimously awarded Mr. Johnson $289M in compensatory and punitive damages, finding that Monsanto acted with malice, oppression, or fraud
- This award was later reduced to $20.5 million.In the wake of this groundbreaking verdict, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 recognized Michael and his team as the 2019 Trial Team of the Year in the Mass Torts category.The second Roundup lawsuit to proceed to trial, Hardeman v
- Monsanto Company, resulted in an $80 million jury verdict (later reduced to $25.2 million)
- In May of 2019, the third Roundup cancer trial culminated in a historic $2.055 billion verdict (later reduced to $87 million) in favor of a Bay Area couple who alleged years of exposure to Roundup weed killer caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- The Pilliod verdict was the largest verdict in California and the second largest in the U.S. in 2019
- It is also the ninth largest verdict in U.S. history
- The Pilliod trial team has received numerous awards and accolades following this landmark verdict, including 2020 Elite Trial Lawyers Mass Tort Law Firm of the Year Finalist, Top 100 Verdicts 2019 by ALM and the National Law Journal and Daily Journal Top Verdicts 2019.In addition, his firm is known for successfully resolving major transportation disaster cases against companies such as Airbus, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Amtrak, Bell Helicopter Co., Beechcraft, Boeing, Cessna, China Eastern Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, EgyptAir, Ford Motor Co., McDonnell Douglas, Piper, Robinson Helicopter Co., Sikorsky, SwissAir, TACA Airlines, TWA, United Airlines, and US Airways, among many others.As part of the plaintiffs’ trial team for families who lost loved ones in the 1989 United 232 Sioux City, Iowa, crash, Michael found the smoking gun document that showed General Electric’s engineers’ graphs predicting the next DC 10 engine failure, which happened to be the date of the United 232 crash five years later.“Rigorously investigating and litigating the types of devastating cases we handle on a daily basis requires relentless focus and dedication to our clients’ causes
- Approaching things from the perspective that every problem has an optimum solution waiting to be apprehended simplifies our team’s outlook on every aspect of each case we handle.”Michael was invited to speak before governmental and regulatory entities on several occasions concerning serious health hazards exposed, in part, due to his firm’s litigation
- He testified in Brussels at a public hearing before the European Parliament’s Special Committee Hearing on the EU’s authorization procedure for pesticides (PEST), concerning environment impacts of pesticides, including Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer
- He and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. delivered the keynote address to members of the European Green Party at the start of their pesticides hearing during that same trip
- He and his partner, R. Brent Wisner, also briefed members of Parliament of Canada’s Green Party about the first Roundup cancer verdict we helped obtain, as well as the evidence we presented at that trial
- As a result of his groundbreaking work on the Monsanto Roundup cases, Politico EU chose Michael as one of five "changemakers" in the world making waves in pesticides policy.Medical officials from foreign governments in countries such as Ireland, Japan, Russia, and Taiwan have sought Michael’s advice and assistance with their countries’ public policies concerning consumer drug safety
- They’ve done so after becoming aware of Michael’s impressive understanding of biomedical research, clinical trials, statistics, the pharmaceutical industry and marketing, as well as his firm’s successful and effective discovery procedures and extensive work with experts on complicated scientific issues related to our firm’s pharmaceutical litigation
Practice Areas Explained
Michael L. Baum's Areas of Practice
Each practice area below reflects the types of cases Michael L. Baum handles, with a brief overview of what that area of law covers.
Personal injury attorneys help accident victims recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and pain & suffering. Most work on contingency — no fee unless you win.
Michael L. Baum is one of 264,852 personal injury attorneys indexed nationally. Browse personal injury attorneys in California →
Michael L. Baum is one of 26,424 class action attorneys indexed nationally. Browse class action attorneys in California →
Michael L. Baum is one of 66,193 product liability attorneys indexed nationally. Browse product liability attorneys in California →
Consumer protection attorneys for fraud, lemon law, debt harassment, and deceptive trade practices.
Michael L. Baum is one of 50,607 consumer attorneys indexed nationally. Browse consumer attorneys in California →
Jurisdictional Context
Why local counsel matters in California
Practicing law in California. Legal matters in California are governed by state-specific rules of civil and criminal procedure, statutes of limitations, and substantive law. Cases originating in Los Angeles are typically filed in the local municipal court or the appropriate California state district court, depending on subject matter and amount in controversy. An attorney licensed in California brings working knowledge of local procedural deadlines, judicial practices in this andnue, and the substantive law that applies to cases brought here. Out-of-state attorneys generally cannot represent clients in California courts without local counsel or pro hac vice admission.
Looking for additional California attorneys? Browse all attorneys in Los Angeles or all attorneys in California.
Frequently Asked
Common questions about Michael L. Baum
Where is Michael L. Baum's law office located?
What practice areas does Michael L. Baum handle?
Where did Michael L. Baum go to law school?
How can I contact Michael L. Baum for a consultation?
What awards or recognition has Michael L. Baum received?
Practice Areas
Education
Awards
Bar Admissions
Reviews
No reviews yet.