Best Lawyers Near You in Los Angeles, California for Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs
Mass tort lawyers in Los Angeles represent large groups of individuals harmed by defective products, dangerous pharmaceuticals, environmental exposure and other causes of widespread harm. Their work typically involves complex litigation with coordinated discovery, expert testimony and parallel proceedings in state and federal courts, including multidistrict litigation. Practitioners in this field manage cases that often span years and require extensive resources, strategic coordination and experience handling high-stakes claims against corporate defendants. Given Los Angeles’s size, population density and industrial footprint, mass tort litigation in the region frequently involves claims with significant public health, consumer safety and environmental implications, as well as enormous compensation settlements.
Lawyers included Best Lawyers for Mass Tort Litigation are recognized through our Purely Peer Review® process, which identifies attorneys whose work is widely respected by others in the legal profession. Peer evaluations focus on legal ability, experience and professional judgment in handling complex, large-scale litigation, like class action lawsuits. Inclusion reflects a level of distinction earned among fellow lawyers and highlights those recognized as leaders in mass tort practice in LA.
Injury & Malpractice Legal Guide 2025
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Paul Kiesel received his Juris Doctorate from the Whittier College School of Law in Los Angeles in 1985. In 2005, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law from Whittier Law School. His practice is devoted to representing consumers in personal injury, class action, environmental, and toxic tort litigation. Mr. Kiesel has repeatedly been selected as one of the top plaintiff attorneys in the State of California and the country. The Los Angeles Business Journal recognized Mr. Kiesel as one of ...
Mr. Stang, a founding partner of the firm, has broad experience in bankruptcy reorganization. He has represented more than thirteen creditors' committees involving survivors of sexual abuse. Mr. Stang has lectured and written extensively on both bankruptcy and receivership issues. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and received his J.D. from Hastings College of Law, where he was editor in chief of Hastings International and Comparative Law Review. He holds an AV Peer Preeminent Rating, Martindal...
Bijan Esfandiari is a pharmaceutical product liability litigation attorney and a senior shareholder partner at Wisner Baum (formerly Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman) in Los Angeles. He has successfully represented clients in state and federal courts across the nation, at both the trial and appellate level, in wrongful death and catastrophic personal injury cases.He has participated in several cases that have shaped and developed the law for the benefit of injured victims and consumers of p...
Adam Shea is a nationally recognized lawyer with extensive experience and success representing individuals and families in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. Mr. Shea has a proven track record of helping those who have been harmed by negligence, wrongful conduct, violations of safety rules, and defective products – including automotive product defects and tire product defects. In this area, he specializes accidents caused by tire failures, rollovers of 15 passenger vans, truc...
As one of the leading trial lawyers in California, Partner Matthew McNicholas represents victims in a range of areas, including catastrophic injury, wrongful death, employment law, maritime law, landlord-tenant habitability, product liability, sexual assault and other consumer-oriented matters, such as civil rights and aviation disasters. As Panel Counsel to the Los Angeles Police Protective League and the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, Mr. McNicholas also has an emphasis in represe...
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 accident...
Peter L. Kaufman is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs, Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs and Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs. Peter L., who practices law in Los Angeles, California, has been recognized since 2018. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Peter L. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
With more than 25 years’ experience as a trial lawyer, Partner Patrick McNicholas exclusively represents victims in catastrophic injury, product liability, sexual assault and other consumer-oriented matters, such as civil rights and aviation disasters. Mr. McNicholas has tried and settled numerous noteworthy cases, including a $44 million settlement for air crash victims, a $10.8 million jury verdict awarded to a minor molested by a school teacher, a $10 million jury verdict to a constr...
Rahul Ravipudi has spent his legal career representing handling catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases, involving commercial vehicles, pedestrians, industrial or construction accidents, and dangerous conditions of public and private property. He also represents consumers in class actions against businesses who engage in unfair and illegal business practices. Recently, Mr. Ravipudi recovered $10 million for the family of an independent truck driver killed by an intoxicated heavy lift ope...
Senior Lawyer Douglas Winter practices in all areas of civil litigation, including employment, personal injury, civil rights, business torts and disputes, consumer litigation, intellectual property and real estate. He has nearly 30 years of trial and appellate experience in both state and federal courts, and has successfully tried dozens of cases to verdict.In the last five years alone, Mr. Winter has obtained, along with Partner Matthew McNicholas, one eight-figure and multiple seven-figure ...
Steven Hilst is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs, Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs and Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs. Steven, who practices law in Los Angeles, California, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Steven is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Spencer Lucas is a partner and trial lawyer at Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP where he specializes in litigating complex catastrophic personal injury, products liability and wrongful death cases. He has extensive experience in cases involving traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries and prides himself on helping injured people and their families. Mr. Lucas has successfully recovered over $600 million for his clients and has obtained numerous eight-figure verdicts and settlements in cas...
One of the country’s leading trial attorneys, Brian Panish has obtained some of the most significant jury verdicts in United States history on behalf of plaintiffs. His courtroom victories include a $4.9 billion verdict in the landmark products liability case Anderson v. General Motors, over 100 verdicts and settlements in excess of $10 million in personal injury and wrongful death cases and seven verdicts in excess of $50 million. Mr. Panish consistently serves in a leadership role in ...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.