R. BRENT WISNER
Managing Partner
R. Brent Wisner is the managing partner and lead trial attorney at Wisner Baum. Recognized as one of America’s 50 Most Influential Trial Lawyers by Trial Lawyer Magazine, Brent has built a reputation for taking on large corporations in high stakes litigation and winning significant verdicts and settlements for his clients.
Over the last several years, Brent has served on the plaintiff’s leadership for multiple mass torts, earned jury verdicts worth a combined $2.427 billion, and helped negotiate settlements in excess of $1 billion—all before the age of 40. He is currently the youngest attorney in American history to win a multi-billion-dollar jury verdict, which he achieved with a $2 billion Roundup cancer verdict against Monsanto on behalf of the Pilliods.
While success in the courtroom is often measured exclusively by dollars and cents, Brent’s legal work has led to changes in business practices that will protect people and the environment for generations. Hundreds of media publications across the globe have asked for his perspective on a variety of pressing legal issues.
Considered one of the most important business publications, the Financial Times published a feature article on Brent, following a ruling in his favor that greenlights over 70,000 Zantac cases. The paper stated Wisner is “now seeking another Big Pharma scalp: UK drugmaker GSK. The company lost £7bn in value on Monday after a ruling by a Delaware judge last week left it exposed to US jury trials over its allegedly carcinogenic heartburn treatment Zantac.” Read the article here.
His team has obtained class certification for the first non-settlement national Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) class action lawsuit against Big Pharma. The RICO case is against Takeda Pharmaceutical Company and Eli Lilly and Company. The class action alleges both drug companies conspired to conceal the bladder cancer risk associated with the diabetes drug, Actos, because they knew that adding a cancer warning label would harm sales. Experts say the damages total under RICO with trebled damages could reach $7 billion or more.
Wisner Baum is also leading several mass tort litigations that will see their first trials in the country. These include the Zantac cancer litigation in California, in which he serves as co-lead counsel for the Ranitidine Product Cases JCCP 5150 where at least 5,000 cases are filed. Brent also serves as Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead National Counsel for the Delaware Zantac litigation where more than 75,000 plaintiffs have filed lawsuits. Wisner Baum will also likely try the first of its kind toxic baby food lawsuit in California in 2024 and the first Gardasil HPV vaccine injury lawsuit against Merck.
Brent believes that being a trial lawyer is more than just securing large verdicts, it is also about using the law to affect real change and obtaining justice for your clients.
A perfect example of using the law to make the world a better place is his firm’s release of the Monsanto Papers. By releasing unsealed key internal Monsanto documents to the EU, US DOJ and California EPA, the truth was revealed about Monsanto’s rampant corporate malfeasance to manipulate the science and collude with the EPA to hide the health risks associated with using Roundup. These documents helped change the narrative across the globe surrounding the weedkiller.
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., 2010 (Juris Doctor)
- Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy, Washington, D.C., 2010 (Master of Public Policy)
- University of California, Los Angeles, 2005 (Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science)
- Georgetown Public Policy Review, Executive Editor
- Mock Trial: Georgetown Law Barristers’ Council, Trial Advocacy, Managing Director
Court Admissions
- California, 2011
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 2012
- U.S. Dist. Court, Central District of California, 2013
- U.S. Dist. Court, Eastern District of California, 2013
- U.S. Dist. Court, Southern District of California, 2013
- U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, 2013
- U.S. Supreme Court, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 2014
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2014
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, 2015
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin, 2016
- U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, 2016
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2017
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, 2020
- District of Columbia, 2021
- The District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 2021
Awards and Honors
- Forbes America's Top 200 Lawyers, 2024
- Leading Commercial Litigators, Daily Journal, 2024
- National Law Journal’s list of Class Action/Mass Tort Litigation Trailblazers, 2023
- Top 100 Lawyers in California, 2023, Daily Journal
- The Best Lawyers in America® 2021- 2024
- 2023 Trial Lawyer of the Year Finalist, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
- Top 100 Lawyers in California 2022, Daily Journal
- Selected as an Associate Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, 2022
- Clarence Darrow Award, MTMP-Mass Torts Made Perfect, 2021
- Consumer Attorney of the Year, Finalist 2021, Consumer Attorneys of California
- California Powerhouse, Law360 Regional Powerhouse Series, 2021
- The American Lawyer’s West Trailblazers, 2021
- Selected: Southern California Super Lawyers® – Rising Stars, 2016 – 2023
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers, 2019 - 2023
- Law360 Rising Star (40 under 40) Product Liability, 2021
- Client Champion Silver Award - Martindale Hubbell, 2021 - 2023
- National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers
- The National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40, 2019-2023
- Avvo.com Superb Score 10 out of 10
- Top Plaintiffs Lawyers in California, 2021, Daily Journal
- Product Liability Practice Group of the Year 2020, Law360
- MVP of the Year 2020, Product Liability, Law360
- Top Plaintiffs Lawyers in California, 2020, Daily Journal
- President, Products Liability Trial Lawyers Association – Top 25, 2020-24
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers, 2020
- 2020 Elite Trial Lawyers Mass Torts Law Firm of the Year, Finalist, ALM and National Law Journal
- Top 100 Lawyers in California 2020, Daily Journal
- Verdicts Hall of Fame Inductee, The National Law Journal and VerdictSearch
- 2019 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyer of the Year, National Trial Lawyers and ALM
- America’s 50 Most Influential Trial Lawyers, 2019, Trial Lawyer Magazine and The National Law Journal
Practice Areas
- Class Actions
- Complex and Multi-District Litigation
- Consumer Fraud Litigation
- Defective Medical Devices
- Personal Injury
- Prescription Drugs
- Pharmaceutical Drug Product Liability
- Zantac Cancer Lawsuit
- Product Liability Law
- Toxic Torts
- Wrongful Death Law
Trial Ready.
Billions Won.
Call (855) 948-5098 to Learn About Your Legal Options
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Radiculopathy vs Neuropathy – What’s the Difference?Personal Injury
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What’s the Most Common Type of Collision Between Motorcycles and Cars?Personal Injury, Wrongful Death
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VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI BUS CRASH KILLS SEVENBus News, Clay Robbins III, Wrongful Death
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PLUM ORGANICS LAWSUIT | TOXIC HEAVY METALSR. Brent Wisner, Toxic Baby Food News
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ROBINSON HELICOPTER CRASH IN KAUAI KILLS AMY AND JIM QUINTUAAri S. Friedman, Aviation News, Helicopter Crash, Robinson Helicopter Accidents, Timothy A. Loranger
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How to Prove Liability in a Rear-End CollisionPersonal Injury
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RYAN SANDVIG AND MARK MANTEUFFEL KILLED IN WA HELICOPTER CRASHAri S. Friedman, Aviation News, Helicopter Crash, Robinson Helicopter Accidents, Timothy A. Loranger
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Wisner Baum Prevails in Landmark Win for Patient Autonomy in CA Supreme Court RulingBijan Esfandiari, Medical Device News, Monique Alarcon, Pharmaceutical News, Press Releases, R. Brent Wisner
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BBC News World Service
Business Daily Meets: Brent Wisner
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Shaping OpinionZantac and Cancer, with Brent Wisner
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Mass Tort News Legalcast
Baby Food Contamination – Who is Complicit?
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Financial Times
The LA Lawyer Taking on One of Europe’s Biggest Drugmakers
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Personal Injury Mastermind
Brent Wisner – The Billion Dollar Litigator
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Super LawyersThe 2 Billion Dollar Man
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Mass Tort News LegalCastLitigating, Managing a Law Firm, and a Life Worth Living with Brent Wisner
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Law360Wisner Baum Leader Takes Reins In Pursuit of 'True Justice'
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Case Works PodcastHow Brent Got Started in Mass Tort Litigation
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The American Lawyer
Trailblazers West – R. Brent Wisner
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60 Minutes AustraliaFirst Man to Successfully Sue Roundup for Causing Cancer
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Documentary
The Secret Tactics Monsanto Used to Protect Roundup
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BusinessweekWith Each Roundup Verdict, Bayer’s Monsanto Purchase Looks Worse
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Courtroom View Network
Brent Wisner’s Closing Argument in Johnson v. Monsanto
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NBC News ChicagoWidow Awarded $3M After Suing Drug Company Over Husband's Suicide