Best Lawyers Near You in Oakland, California for Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs
Andy Gillin received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and his law degree from the University of Chicago. He is a co-author of California Government Tort Liability Practice, published by California Continuing Education of the Bar. He has written and lectured in the field of plaintiffs’ personal injury law for numerous organizations. Andy’s case results include many recoveries for his clients in excess of $1,000,000. Bar Admissions: State of...
Kristin M. Lucey is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Kristin M., who practices law in Orinda, California, has been recognized since 2016. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Kristin M. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
As the chair of Lieff Cabraser’s Cybersecurity & Data Privacy group since its inception in 2016, Michael W. Sobol leads novel and challenging consumer protection class action lawsuits of first impression. Within the last few years, Michael’s cases have recovered over one billion dollars and have reformed the business practices for the benefit of tens of millions consumers nationwide. A two-time California Daily Journal “Top Cybersecurity Lawyer,” in 2025 Michael wa...
Matt Davis is a graduate of UC Hastings Law San Francisco, obtaining his law degree in 1989. He worked for a San Francisco litigation boutique until 1992, when he was recruited by the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. From 1992 through 2001, he represented the municipality and its employees in jury trials and appeals in both state and federal courts. While working for the City, he had an active role in San Francisco’s litigation against the Bank of America that culminated in a...
Donald C. Arbitblit is a leader among plaintiffs’ attorneys in assessing the legal, medical, and scientific aspects of personal injury, mass torts , and environmental and toxic exposure litigation . Don has served on Plaintiffs’ Science/Expert Committees in several national cases and served on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Actos bladder cancer injuries federal multidistrict litigation that settled in 2015 for $2.4 billion. Since 2022, Don has contributed to the d...
Ralph Jacobson received his law degree from Stanford University in 1969. His concentration has been in personal injury and employment litigation for over 30 years. He has written numerous articles for the CEB Civil Litigation Reporter, a leading professional journal for attorneys. One such article was cited by the California Supreme Court in an opinion. Ralph has served as a consultant to Bancroft Whitney, a leading legal text publisher, for its California Civil Practice Series. He has lectur...
Richard M. Heimann is one of the nation’s foremost trial attorneys and skilled negotiators, with unparalleled experience in complex securities and investor fraud, antitrust and intellectual property, consumer protection, and personal injury and mass tort cases. Richard led Lieff Cabraser’s work in the Wells Fargo Shareholder Derivative Litigation and was appointed Co-Lead Plaintiffs’ Counsel in the case. In April 2020, the Court granted final approval to a settlement includi...
Jim Larsen received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1982, and his law degree from the University of Oregon in 1986. He has tried numerous jury and court cases and has argued at the appellate level in California and Oregon. Jim’s case results include many recoveries for his clients in excess of $1,000,000. He joined the firm in 1988. Bar Admissions: California, 1987 U.S. District Court Northern District of California, 1987 U.S. Federal Court, ...
Abby Wolf is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Litigation - Antitrust and Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs. Abby, who practices law in Berkeley, California, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Abby is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Kevin R. Budner is a partner in Lieff Cabraser’s San Francisco specializing in complex, high-impact litigation. Of particular note, Kevin was one of the lead attorneys prosecuting San Francisco’s case in the nationwide opioid litigation . Among other roles, Kevin directed the team’s discovery efforts against Walgreens and played a key role in the multi-month bellwether trial. In a milestone opinion , Judge Charles R. Breyer concluded that “the aggregate evidence that P...
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.