ATTORNEY, SENIOR PARTNER
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.
The firm was one of the first law firms in the country to take on Roundup (glyphosate) weed killer cancer cases against Monsanto. Michael and his colleagues served on the trial teams for the first three Roundup trials against Monsanto (Bayer), resulting in $2.424 billion in jury verdicts for the plaintiffs. These trial victories paved the way for settlement resolutions in 2020 worth a combined $10.9 billion, a major milestone for Baum Hedlund and the culmination of more than four years of hard work and perseverance.
During the litigation, his team obtained a trove of internal documents known as the Monsanto Papers, which they ensured were declassified and released to regulatory agencies, scientists, and the general public. With invitations from lawmakers in these countries, Michael traveled with his partner Brent Wisner, to the EU and Canada to brief regulators on the key evidence uncovered in the Monsanto litigation. His influence on public policy concerning Roundup led Politico to choose Michael as one of five "changemakers" in the world making waves in pesticides policy.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Among his many achievements, accomplished with the help of his team, Michael is most proud of:
Chosen by UCLA School of Law “for his commitment to top-notch advocacy and excellence” to deliver the 2021 Irving H. Green Memorial Lecture: Suing Monsanto: Corporate Accountability in Trial Law;
His firm’s historic $289M and the $2B Roundup cancer verdicts against Monsanto (now Bayer) and the firm's release of The Monsanto Papers;
Being recognized, along with his firm, as a national leader in the antidepressant Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft suicide litigation;
Working to bring about the black box suicidality warning for children and young adults, now on most antidepressant labels;
Helping spur funding for the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1998, which was made part of the negotiated settlement to help scores of hemophiliacs infected with HIV by contaminated medication;
Arranging for the face-to-face presentation between pharmaceutical company executives and dozens of hemophiliac families that got to say, person by person, holding before and after photos of themselves or departed loved ones, how the hemophilia-AIDS epidemic, and the manner in which the companies caused and covered it up, impacted their lives;
Being one of the leaders in the fight against federal preemption, a doctrine pushed by the pharmaceutical industry to wipe out consumers’ rights to sue drug companies for injuries caused by their drugs (Preemption was finally defeated in 2009 with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Wyeth v. Levine);
Creating the first class action ever filed against an SSRI-antidepressant manufacturer, ending with the successful resolution of more than 3,000 Paxil injury cases;
Finding “needles in haystacks” and “smoking guns” in document productions, such as GE engineers’ graphs predicting the next DC 10 engine failure which mirrored the date of the United 232 crash five years later, an internal study linking SSRIs to cardio birth defects, or documentation of company programs to ghostwrite medical journal articles for academic opinion leaders to give the appearance of objective science when actually serving marketing objectives to increase prescriptions, i.e. disguised advertising;
Negotiating the first official public apology by an airline for the 2003 Air Midwest Flt. 5481 Charlotte, North Carolina crash;
Eliminating California law that protected tobacco companies from lawsuits. For many years, the statute of limitations was considered to begin to run from the date the plaintiff knew or should have known that he/she was addicted to tobacco. This effectively barred plaintiffs, many of whom began smoking in their teens, from suing. Now, the statute of limitations runs when the plaintiff’s physical injuries are (or reasonably could be) discovered;
Developing a rigorous, skillful, and technical method for locating hard-to-find manufacturer documents in order to successfully litigate against major pharmaceutical companies, positioning his firm as a leader in the fight to increase public health and safety;
Creating coalitions of activists, attorneys, and Wisner Baum staff, who work together to resolve global problems caused by harmful and defective drugs, which no individual could accomplish alone.
“We have adopted Margaret Mead’s philosophy, ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’”
Michael is also listed in The Best Lawyers in America®, Southern California Super Lawyers®, the Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers Top 100. Michael also maintains the highest AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rating through Martindale Hubbell® and the highest Avvo.com Superb Score.
EDUCATION
University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law (J.D., 1985)
University of California, Los Angeles (B.A., summa cum laude, 1982)
COURT ADMISSIONS
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1983
California, 1985
U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 1986
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, 1989
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 1989
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1990
U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan, 1991
U.S. Supreme Court, 1991
District of Columbia, 1993
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, 1993
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, 1996
U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York, 1996
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 1997
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, 1999
U.S. District Court, Western District of New York, 2009
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2009
U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, 2013
AWARDS AND HONORS
Best Personal Injury Lawyers Los Angeles, CA (2022 – 2023), Forbes Advisor
The Best Lawyers in America® 2016 – 2024
Los Angeles Times - The Top Southern California Personal Injury Attorneys, 2022
Guest lecturer of the 2021 Irving H. Green Memorial Lecture Series: Suing Monsanto: Corporate Accountability in Trial Law, UCLA School of Law
Product Liability Practice Group of the Year 2020, Law360
Listed in Politico’s Changemakers Series: 5 People Putting Pesticides on the Agenda
2020 Mass Torts Elite Trial Law Firm of the Year, Finalist, ALM and National Law Journal
Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers, 2019 - 2023
Selected to: Southern California Super Lawyers® 2005, 2012 – 2023
California Powerhouse, Law360 Regional Powerhouse Series, 2021
The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers
Verdicts Hall of Fame Inductee, The National Law Journal and VerdictSearch
2019 Elite Trial Lawyers Mass Torts Trial Team of the Year, The National Law Journal and The Trial Lawyer Magazine
Top 100: 2019 Southern California Super Lawyers
Trial Team of the Year 2019, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100
Number 1 Verdict in California in 2019, Topverdict.com (Pilliod et al. v. Monsanto Co.)
Top 10 Verdicts in California in 2019, Topverdict.com (Pilliod et al. v. Monsanto Co.)
2018 Elite Trial Lawyers, Winner Pharmaceutical Litigation, The National Law Journal
Number 1 Product Liability Verdict in California in 2018, Topverdict.com (Johnson v. Monsanto Co.)
Top 10 Personal Injury Verdicts in the U.S. in 2018, Topverdict.com (Johnson v. Monsanto Co.)
Top 100 Verdicts 2018, ALM, National Law Journal, Verdict Search (Johnson v. Monsanto Co.)
Top 10 Product Liability Verdicts in Illinois in 2017, Topverdict.com (Dolin v. GSK)
Top 100 Product Liability Verdicts in the U.S. in 2017, Topverdict.com (Dolin v. GSK)
AV® Preeminent 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rating through Martindale Hubbell®
Avvo.com Superb Score 10 out of 10
Listed, The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers™
Aviation Counsel Magazine’s List of Recommended High Flyers, believed by the International Air Transport Association’s Legal Dept. to be one of the most elite lists of aviation law practitioners ever produced
National Air Disaster Foundation Safety Award, 2002
LITIGATION LEADERSHIP
Trial Team Member, Pilliod et al., vs Monsanto Company (3rd Roundup cancer verdict $2.055 billion), Oakland, California, 2019
Trial Team Member, Hardeman vs Monsanto Company (2nd Roundup cancer verdict $80 million), San Francisco, California, 2019
Trial Team Member, Dewayne “Lee” Johnson vs Monsanto Company (1st Roundup cancer verdict $289.2 million), San Francisco, California, 2018
Trial Team Member, Wendy B. Dolin vs GlaxoSmithKline LLC (generic Paxil suicide verdict $3 million), Chicago, Illinois, 2017
Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, MDL-2741, In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California), 2016-present
Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings (JCCP 4696) In re Actos Product Liability Cases, Los Angeles, California, 2012 – 2020
Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, MDL-1574, Paxil Products Liability Litigation
Trial Team Member, Consolidated Hemophilia-AIDS Cases, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1999
Lead Counsel for 125 Consolidated Complex Biological-Medical Products Liability Cases, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1997-2001
Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, Illinois State Court Proceedings for USAir 427 Aircrash near Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, 1994
Trial Team Member, 1997, USAir 1016 Aircrash of Charlotte, North Carolina, 1994
Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, MDL 1041, USAir 1016 Aircrash of Charlotte, North Carolina, 1994
Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, MDL 891, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 Crash, Romulus, Michigan, 1990
Trial Team Member, 1991-1992, United Airlines Flight 232 Crash, Sioux City, Iowa, 1989
Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, MDL 817, United Airlines Flight 232 Crash, Sioux City, Iowa, 1989
MEMBER
State Bar of California
The District of Columbia Bar
Consumer Attorneys of California, President’s Club Benefactor
Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
American Association for Justice: Leader’s Forum - Champion
GUEST SPEAKER
American Association for Justice Conferences
AutismOne Conference
Children’s Health Defense Conference
Consumer Attorneys of California Convention
HarrisMartin Conferences
HB Litigation Conferences
Mass Torts Made Perfect Conferences
Santa Monica College, Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences
Selling Sickness Conferences
Ubiquity University
University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) School of Law, Emmett Institute on Climate Change & the Environment and The Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy
University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) School of Law, The Irving H. Green Memorial Lecture
Yale University, Yale Law School
GOVERNMENTAL TESTIMONY
Briefing before Parliament of Canada’s Green Party of Canada about the $289M Monsanto Roundup cancer verdict and the Monsanto Papers at Parliament Hill, Ottawa, January 30, 2019
European Parliament’s Special Committee Hearing on the EU’s authorization procedure for pesticides (PEST), Public Hearing on” Environmental Impacts of Pesticides, including Mitigation Measures at Member State Level” and “Stakeholders Recommendations on the Current EU Regulation on the Approval of PPP” at Brussels, Belgium, September 6, 2018
Keynote address to European Green Party, Greens Complimentary Hearing on Pesticides on the consequential effects that pesticides have on human health and the environment at Brussels, Belgium, September 5, 2018
Taiwan’s Ministry of Health emergency meeting regarding hemophilia HIV contaminated medication, February 18, 2004
PRO BONO AND CIVIC ACTIVITIES
Briefing in Brussels - Attorney Baum, his law partner, Brent Wisner, and two clients, Teri McCall and John Barton, traveled to Brussels by invitation to meet with and brief EU press, lawmakers from Germany and France, and staffers for various Members of European Parliaments (MEPs). They arrived just days before a hearing organized by EU environmental and agricultural committees to discuss their firm’s release of the Monsanto Papers and allegations that Monsanto unduly influenced studies on glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. They warned officials about the cancer risk associated with glyphosate and Roundup. Attorneys Baum and Wisner also sent a letter to EU officials requesting they conduct an official inquiry into Monsanto’s manipulation of science and potential collusion with regulators. Belgium, October 4-5, 2017
Published the Monsanto Papers - During the Monsanto Roundup cancer litigation, Michael, his partner, Brent Wisner, and their team, declassified and published internal documents known as the Monsanto Papers, revealing Monsanto’s scientific manipulation to hide the truth about Roundup’s harmful effects. This evidence and the successful plaintiffs verdicts have changed how the world questions the safety of Roundup, resulting in regulatory changes, restrictions and bans of glyphosate across the globe. August 1, 2017 through December 2019
PUBLISHED CASES
Jones v. Monsanto Company, 38 F.4th 693, (C.A.8 Mo. 2022) Civil Rights — Free Speech. Order for cy pres distribution of residual funds, after class-action settlement, was not compelled speech under First Amendment.
Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82 Health Care Fund v. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, 520 F.Supp.3d 1258 (C.D.Cal. 2021) Torts — RICO. Class action claims against pharmaceutical companies for violation of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act were adequately alleged.
Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82 Health Care Fund v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Limited, 943 F.3d 1243, (C.A.9 Cal. 2019) Torts — RICO. Plaintiffs plausibly alleged element of proximate cause, as required to support civil RICO claim against pharmaceutical company.
Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82 Health Care Fund v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Limited, 796 Fed.Appx. 919, (C.A.9 Cal. 2019) Commercial Law — Unfair Practices. Consumer sufficiently alleged damages, as required to state Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act claim.
In re Celexa and Lexapro Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, 915 F.3d 1, (C.A.1 (Mass. 2019) Torts — RICO. FDA approval of pharmaceutical manufacturer’s antidepressant did not preclude RICO claims based on manufacturer’s pre-approval “off-label” marketing.
Blitz v. Monsanto Company, 317 F.Supp.3d 1042, (W.D.Wis. 2018) Commercial Law — Unfair Practices. Consumer’s state law claims against herbicide manufacturer were not preempted by Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
Dolin v. GlaxoSmithKline LLC, 269 F.Supp.3d 851, (N.D.Ill. 2017) Products Liability — Warnings. Sufficient evidence supported finding that warnings regarding risk of suicide on antidepressant’s label were inadequate and misleading.
Dolin v. SmithKline Beecham Corporation, 62 F.Supp.3d 705, (N.D.Ill. 2014) Health — Drugs. Drug manufacturer’s relation to plaintiff was sufficient to impose reasonable conduct duty, supporting negligence claim related to design and warning.
In re Celexa and Lexapro Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, 769 F.Supp.2d 11, (D.Mass. 2011) Health - Drugs. Fraud claim against pharmaceutical manufacturer was not time-barred.
In re Celexa and Lexapro Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, 751 F.Supp.2d 277, (D.Mass. 2010) Antitrust - Health Care Providers. Allegation that physician was misled by pharmaceutical manufacturer into prescribing drug was sufficient to allege causation.
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)
PRACTICE AREAS
Prescription Drugs
Pharmaceutical Drug Product Liability
Zantac Cancer Lawsuit
Catastrophic Injury
Class Action Litigation
Complex and Multi-District Litigation
Talcum Powder Ovarian Cancer
Consumer Fraud Litigation
Defective Medical Devices
ECT
Toxic Torts
Wrongful Death Law
Toxic Baby Food
