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Lawyer Profile

Image of Michael L. Baum

Michael L. Baum

Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, PC
  • Recognized Since:
    2016
  • Recognized in:
    Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs
    Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs
  • Law School:
    University of California - Los Angeles
  • Lawyer Page:
    https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com...
  • Website:
    https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com
  • Firm's Phone Number:
    (310) 207.3233
  • E-mail:
    mbaum@baumhedlundlaw.com
  • Languages:
    English
  • Location:
    10940 Wilshire Boulevard, 17th Floor
    Los Angeles, CA 90024
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Michael L. Baum is the senior managing partner of Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman. He has successfully led the firm through thousands of wrongful death and personal injury cases stemming from major pharmaceutical drug catastrophes, harmful consumer products and commercial transportation mass disasters.  

He began his career more than 30 years ago, primarily handling airline accidents and other commercial transportation disasters as well as some pharmaceutical product liability litigation. While he oversees all aspects of managing the firm, Michael directs all of the firm’s mass tort litigation, including defective or harmful pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, herbicides, and consumer products. He also oversees our class actions and whistleblower qui-tam actions.  

“Some of our staff were friends long before they started working here and they remain friends after almost three decades of working together. They actually like each other and enjoy making a difference in the lives of others. One of my favorite quotes, which I like to recite to my staff, sums up the work environment we’ve created at the firm: ‘In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and – SNAP – the job’s a game!’”  

Award-Winning Pharmaceutical Litigation Team   

Under Michael’s leadership, Baum Hedlund has 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 that has successfully litigated personal injury, wrongful death, and consumer fraud cases against major pharmaceutical companies such as Alpha Therapeutic, Armour Pharmaceutical Co., Baxter Health Care Corp, Bayer Corp., Dalkon Corporation, Eli Lilly, Forest Labs, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pfizer.  

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.  

Groundbreaking Verdicts in Monsanto Roundup Litigation     

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. 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 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. In May of 2019, the third Roundup cancer trial culminated in a historic $2.055 billion verdict in favor of a Bay Area couple who alleged years of exposure to Roundup weed killer caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  

Holding Companies Responsible for Aviation Disasters     

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 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.”

Influencing Public Policy  

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 litiga

Continue Reading
  • Lawyer Bio
  • Client Comments
  • Lawyer Practice Areas
  • Firm Details
  • News & Media
  • Case History

Lawyer Bio

Michael L. Baum is the senior managing partner of Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman. He has successfully led the firm through thousands of wrongful death and personal injury cases stemming from major pharmaceutical drug catastrophes, harmful consumer products and commercial transportation mass disasters.  

He began his career more than 30 years ago, primarily handling airline accidents and other commercial transportation disasters as well as some pharmaceutical product liability litigation. While he oversees all aspects of managing the firm, Michael directs all of the firm’s mass tort litigation, including defective or harmful pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, herbicides, and consumer products. He also oversees our class actions and whistleblower qui-tam actions.  

“Some of our staff were friends long before they started working here and they remain friends after almost three decades of working together. They actually like each other and enjoy making a difference in the lives of others. One of my favorite quotes, which I like to recite to my staff, sums up the work environment we’ve created at the firm: ‘In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and – SNAP – the job’s a game!’”  

Award-Winning Pharmaceutical Litigation Team   

Under Michael’s leadership, Baum Hedlund has 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 that has successfully litigated personal injury, wrongful death, and consumer fraud cases against major pharmaceutical companies such as Alpha Therapeutic, Armour Pharmaceutical Co., Baxter Health Care Corp, Bayer Corp., Dalkon Corporation, Eli Lilly, Forest Labs, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pfizer.  

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.  

Groundbreaking Verdicts in Monsanto Roundup Litigation     

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. 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 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. In May of 2019, the third Roundup cancer trial culminated in a historic $2.055 billion verdict in favor of a Bay Area couple who alleged years of exposure to Roundup weed killer caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  

Holding Companies Responsible for Aviation Disasters     

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 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.”

Influencing Public Policy  

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 litiga

Read more on firm website
  • Education
  • Bar & Court Admissions
  • Affiliations
  • Award List
  • Additional Information

Education:

  • University of California - Los Angeles, J.D., graduated 1985
  • University of California - Los Angeles, B.A., graduated 1982

Bar Admissions:

  • California, State Bar of California
  • District of Columbia
 

Court Admissions:

  • 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, Western District of New York, 2009
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2009
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, 2013

Affiliations:

  • American Association for Justice: Actos Bladder Cancer Litigation Group - Member
  • American Association for Justice: Qui Tam Litigation Group - Member
  • American Association for Justice: Section on Toxic, Environmental, and Pharmaceutical Torts (STEP) - Member
  • American Association for Justice: Talcum Powder/Ovarian Cancer Litigation Group - Member
  • Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles - Member
  • American Association for Justice: Leader’s Forum - Member
  • Consumer Attorneys of California - Member
  • Public Citizen's Civil Justice Project - Supporter

Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for work in:

  • Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs
  • Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs
 

Awards:

  • Avvo.com Superb Score 10 out of 10
  • Listed, The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers™
  • Lead Counsel Rated
  • Who's Who in the World
  • Who's Who in America
  • Who's Who in American Law
  • 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
  • AV® Preeminent 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rating through LexisNexis Martindale Hubbell®
  • Nation’s Top One Percent, National Association of Distinguished Counsel
  • Selected to: Southern California Super Lawyers® 2005, 2012-2018
  • The Best Lawyers in America® 2016-2018

Special Focus:

  • Personal Injury
 

Additional Information:

Litigation Leadership
  • Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, MDL-2741, In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation, 2016-present
  • Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings (JCCP 4696) In re Actos Product Liability Cases, Los Angeles, California, 2012 – present
  • 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: Member, 1989
  • Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, MDL 817, United Airlines Flight 232 Crash, Sioux City, Iowa, 1989
Governmental Testimony
Taiwan’s Ministry of Health emergency meeting regarding hemophilia HIV contaminated medication, February 18, 2004
Presentations / Speeches
  • Topic: California’s Announcement that Roundup Causes Cancer, OEHHA, and the MDL (Multi-District Litigation); Organization: HarrisMartin; Event: HarrisMartin’s Roundup® Litigation Conference Agenda; Location: Chicago, Illinois; Date: June 29, 2017
  • Topic: “Disease Mongering and Scientific Misconduct”; Organization: Santa Monica College; Department: Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences; Location: Santa Monica, California; Date: December 8, 2014
  • Topic: Actos Bladder Cancer Litigation Status Update; Panel Topic: Mass Torts: Status Update On Drug And Medical Device Litigation; Organization: Consumer Attorneys of California; Event: CAOC 52nd Annual Convention; Location: San Francisco, California; Date: November 14-17, 2013
  • Topic: Litigation Update and Trial Analysis Roundtable: “Actos Trial Analysis”; Organization: AAJ Plaintiff Trial Lawyers and presented with Mass Torts Made Perfect; Event: AAJ Education’s Plaintiff-Only Pharmaceuticals and Medical Device Litigation Update Seminar; Location: Louisville, Kentucky; Date: May 28 – 29, 2013
  • Topic: Roundtable: Legal Issues; Organization: Selling Sickness; Event: Selling Sickness 2013, People Before Profits; Location: Capitol Hill , Washington D.C.; Date: February 20 – 22, 2013
  • Topic: “Case Theories, Challenges and Case Selection Considerations for Your Actos Inventory”Organization: HB Litigation ConferencesEvent: Plaintiff Forum on Pharmaceutical Litigation, Transvaginal Mesh, Actos, and Orthopedic DevicesLocation: Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaDate: October 5, 2012
 

Lawyer Client Comments

Lawyer Practice Areas

Key: Awarded in Best Lawyers Not Currently Awarded for this Area in Best Lawyers

Firm Details

Image for Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, PC View Firm Profile
Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, PC
https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com
 
Headquarters
10940 Wilshire Boulevard, 17th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 207.3233
2 Office Locations
in 1 Country

United States

United States

District of Columbia

District of Columbia

Washington, DC

2101 L Street, NW, Suite 800

Washington, DC 20037

United States

(202) 466.0513

Get Directions

News & Media

Featured Publications

Cover for our Southern California publication

Videos

Lawyer Case History

In re Air Crash at Charlotte, N.C. on July 2, 1994

  • 982 F.Supp. 1092 (Dist. South Carolina 1997)
  • 982 F.Supp. 1086 (Dist. South Carolina 1997)
  • 982 F.Supp. 1084 (Dist. South Carolina 1997)
  • 982 F.Supp. 1071 (Dist. South Carolina 1995)
  • 982 F.Supp. 1060 (Dist. South Carolina 1996)
  • 982 F.Supp. 1056 (Dist. South Carolina 1996)
  • 982 F.Supp. 1052 (Dist. South Carolina 1995)

Ex parte Knight Ridder, Inc.

982 F.Supp. 1080 (Dist. South Carolina 1997)

Smith v. Cutter Biological

770 So. 2d 392 (La. App. 4th Cir. 2000)

Grisham v. Philip Morris USA

  • 482 F. 3d 1131 (9th Cir. 2007)
  • 40 Cal.4th 623, 151 P.3d 1151, 54 Cal.Rptr.3d 735 (2007)
  • 403 F. 3d 631 (9th Cir. 2005)

Collins v. SmithKline Beecham Corp.

2008 WL 744070 (Pa. Ct.Com.Pl. March 11, 2008)

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)

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)
 
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