Ronald L. M. Goldman

Ronald L. M. Goldman retired after 60 years in the practice of law on January 10, 2023. He held the positions of vice president and senior trial attorney at Baum Hedlund & Aristei & Goldman (now Wisner Baum) and was a pillar of Baum Hedlund for 19 years. We marked his retirement with this special commemorative article.

While practicing, Ron was a skilled trial lawyer and board-certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a Civil Pretrial Practice Advocate and Civil Trial Advocate, Senior Specialist. For 18 years, Ron served as a senior shareholder, board member, vice-president, secretary and senior trial counsel for Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman. He transitioned to “of counsel” status in July 2022. Ron handled a wide variety of sophisticated litigation at both the trial and appellate levels, and litigated hundreds of cases involving personal injury and wrongful death related to commercial transportation liability and to drug product liability.

Ronald F. Phillips
Vice Chancellor & School of Law Dean Emeritus
Pepperdine University

Featured in Southern California Super Lawyers- Commemorating Ron's 50 Years of Lawyering

He successfully led our firm’s transportation department, litigating and overseeing hundreds of cases stemming from aviation disasters and commercial ground transportation accidents. Ron taught for 21 years at Pepperdine School of Law as an adjunct Law Professor, where he created and taught the course on Aviation Accident Law. He also taught courses in Torts, Insurance Law, Legal Writing, and Analysis.

Ronald L. M. Goldman Pilot, Attorney of Counsel, Retired

media interview request

Locally & Nationally Recognized

In 1969 Ron handled his first aviation case and has continued handling aviation cases ever since, in accidents such as the 1972 British European Airways crash near London; the 1978 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182/Cessna 172 Midair Collision at San Diego, California; the 1986 Aero Mexico Flight 498/Piper Midair Collision at Cerritos, California; and the 2000 Southwest Airlines runway accident at Burbank, California. He also handled the September 11, 2001 aviation (passenger) tort litigation in which he also served on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee. Since joining the firm in 2003 he has worked on all of the firm’s general aviation and airline disaster cases.

He was the lead negotiator in one of the firm’s most significant aviation litigation achievements. He won, as part of the settlement in the January 8, 2003, Air Midwest Flight 5481 crash in Charlotte, NC, the agreement of the airline and maintenance company, in an organized ceremony, to deliver an unprecedented official public apology to the families for the crash. Three years later Ron appeared in a dramatic reenactment of the crash, its subsequent investigation, and the ultimate public apology, which aired on National Geographic Television.

Ron’s expertise extends far beyond aviation into many forms of commercial transportation accidents. Due to his experience with train accident cases, he was chosen as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for the 2008 Chatsworth Metrolink train collision in California, which is the deadliest train accident in Metrolink’s history. He also litigated the fatal 2012 Coal Train Derailment in Ellicott City, Maryland.

Ron was involved in ground-breaking pharmaceutical litigation which helped pave the way for the drug product liability litigation lawyers are facing today. In the 1960s he was actively involved in exposing Richardson-Merrell’s (later known as Marion Merrell Dow) cholesterol-lowering drug, MER/29 (triparanol), which was blamed for severe side effects and birth defects. The company was ultimately indicted for supplying the FDA with falsified information about the drug.

While at our firm, Ron maintained an AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review lawyer rating through Martindale Hubbell and was listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, and The Best Lawyers in America® 2013-2022 (Copyright by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, SC). He was also published in Million Dollar Verdicts by the Masters and was listed in Southern California Super Lawyers® from 2005 to 2022. As lead trial counsel, Ron won one of the largest verdicts of its type in Ohio’s history in December of 2006. The case concerned an unmarried person who died in a Tyson Foods truck crash. The case, Brumfield v. Tyson Foods, Inc., N.D. Ohio Case No. 1:05CV847, before Judge Donald C. Nugent, resulted in a jury verdict of $7,028,687.

Ron Goldman has appeared in the media more than 2,000 times concerning aviation accidents and pharmaceutical drug product liability, including safety oversight issues. Numerous media have sought Ron’s expert opinion as a pilot and former adjunct aviation accident law professor concerning airline accidents in the U.S. and abroad as well as regarding runway incursions at LAX.

He has made numerous TV, radio, and other media appearances as a legal expert for some of the world’s leading news agencies, including Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, CNN, Bloomberg News, Chicago Tribune, Forbes.com, Fox News Channel, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, National Law Journal, NPR, Associated Press and the Washington Post.

Ron received his B.S.L. in 1960 and his law degree in 1962, both from the University of Southern California.

Education

University of Southern California (B.S.L., 1960)
University of Southern California (J.D., 1962)
Private Pilot License, USA (1980)

Court Admissions

California, 1963
U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 1963
U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, 1970
U.S. Supreme Court, 1971
United Kingdom, Court of Inquiry, 1972 (Investigating crash of British European Airways Trident jet in June 1972, London, England)
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1985
United States Court of Federal Claims, 1974
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, 1975
U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, 1977
District of Columbia, 1979
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1979
U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, 1982
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 1983
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2006
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, 2006
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 2006
U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, 2008
U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, 2008
U.S. District Court, Western District of New York, 2009
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2009
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, 2012
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California, 2022

Board Certified

Board Certified Civil Pretrial Practice Advocate and Civil Trial Advocate , Senior Specialist, National Board of Trial Advocacy
National Board of Legal Specialty Certification

Awards and Honors

AV^® Preeminent 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rating through Martindale Hubbell^®
The Best Lawyers in America^® 2013 – 2022 (Copyright by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, SC)
California Powerhouse, Law360 Regional Powerhouse Series, 2021
Client Champion Silver Award - Martindale Hubbell, 2021 - 2022
The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers
The National Trial Lawyers Top 10 Aviation Trial Lawyers
The National Trial Lawyers Top 10 Trucking Trial Lawyers
Lexis-Nexis^® | Martindale-Hubbell^® Client Distinction Award

Top 100: 2016 Southern California Super Lawyers^®
Selected to: Southern California Super Lawyers^® 2005 – 2022
2018 Elite Trial Lawyers, Finalists Consumer Protection, The National Law Journal
Selected to: Southern California Super Lawyers^®, Corporate Counsel Edition, 2009
Avvo.com Superb Score 10 out of 10
America’s Top 100 Attorneys – Lifetime Achievement Recipient
Published in Million Dollar Verdicts by the Masters
Listed, The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers™

Litigation Leadership

Leadership Member, Ad hoc, Asiana Airlines Flight OZ214 litigation, MDL-2497, in re Air Crash at San Francisco, on July 6, 2013
Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, MDL-2085, In Re: Air Crash near Clarence Center, New York, on February 12, 2009 (Colgan Air dba Continental Connection)
Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, MDL-1967 In Re: Bisphenol-A (BPA) Polycarbonate Plastic Products Liability Litigation, 2009
Leadership Group, East Coast Jets, Owatonna, Minnesota, July 31, 2008
Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee Member, Chatsworth Metrolink Collision Cases, Chatsworth, California, 2008
Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, MDL-1953, Heparin Products Liability Litigation
Lead Trial Counsel, 2006; 2004 Tyson Foods truck crash near Crestline, Ohio
Lead Trial Counsel, 2006; 1998 Bell Helicopter crash in Los Angeles, California
Member, Lead Trial Counsel, Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, MDL-1574, Paxil Products Liability Litigation
Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, September 11, 2001 Tort Litigation
Co-Lead Plaintiffs’ Counsel for the Coordinated Discovery Cases, Southwest Airlines Flight 1455 accident, Burbank, California, 2000

Member

State Bar of California
District of Columbia Bar
National Board of Trial Advocacy
The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers
American Academy of Trial Attorneys
Fellow, American Bar Foundation, 2021 -
American Association for Justice: Leader’s Forum - Champion; Aviation Law Section
American Bar Association: The Forum on Air and Space Law; Litigation Section and Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section
Consumer Attorneys of California, President’s Club Benefactor
Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association
International Bar Association, Aviation Law Committee
International Brain Injury Association (IBIA)
North American Brain Injury Society (NABIS)
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Life Member, Ostriches Anonymous Association (OAA), Promoting Aviation Safety and Risk Awareness
Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association
Public Justice
American Civil Liberties Union
Public Citizen
World Jurist Association of the World Peace Through Law Center
Founding Member, World Association of Law Professors of the World Peace Through Law Center
Legal Expert Witness, Westlaw Round Table Group, 2012

Legal Teaching Position

Adjunct Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law, 1968 to 1989

Courses Taught by Professor Goldman:

Aviation Accident Law
Torts
Insurance Law
Legal Writing and Analysis

Judge Pro Tem / Arbitrator and Mediator (Former Positions)

Orange County Superior Court (1975)
Beverly Hills Municipal Court
Los Angeles Municipal Court
Arbitrator/Mediator–Los Angeles Superior Court
Arbitrator–American Arbitration Association (to 1994)
Mediator–42 hours training at Pepperdine University’s Institute for Dispute Resolution

Presentations / Speeches

Topic: Panel Discussion on Forced Arbitration

Organization: Alliance For Justice

Event: Los Angeles Film Premiere of “Lost in the Fine Print”

Location: Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California

Date: May 7, 2015

Topic: Ruminations on the Practice of Law – A 50-Year Perspective

Organization: Ventura County Trial Lawyers Association

Event: VCTLA Monthly Program

Location: Oxnard, California

Date: October 28, 2014

Topic: Paxil Litigation

Organization: HB Litigation Conferences

Event: Teleconference

Location: Teleconference

Date: November 5, 2009

Topic: OJ Simpson criminal and civil jury verdicts

Organization: Shanghai School of Social Science

Event: Lecture

Location: Shanghai, P.R.C.

Date: 1998

Topic: Special Guest Lecturer on The American Judicial System

Event: Lecture

Organization: Christchurch Polytechnic, School of Broadcasting

Location: Christchurch, New Zealand

Date: 1997

Topic: “Product Liability – Didn’t Business Learn From the ‘Malpractice’ Crisis?”

Organization: Town Hall Los Angeles

Event: Town Hall General Luncheon, Orange County Forum

Location: Los Angeles, California

Date: November 17, 1977

Topic: Speaker and Panel Member: Aviation Law, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Legal Malpractice, Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury, Product Liability, Right of Privacy, Tort Law

Organization: Belli Seminars

Event: Seminars

Location: Riverside, California

Date: 1970s

Topics: Aviation Litigation, International Law

Organization: World Peace Through Law Conferences

Locations: Madrid, Manila, New York

Date: 1970s

Author

The Largest Heist in History – Law 360, June 25, 2013
Book: U.S. Supreme Court Transcript of Record Re British European Airways, Petitioner, v. Abraham Benjamins, Etc., et al. – U.S. Supreme Court Transcript of Record with Supporting Pleadings, October 30, 2011
American Passengers Have Limited Rights in International Airline Crashes Because of a Treaty Known as the Montreal Convention – FindLaw KnowledgeBase, June 8, 2010
Regional Air Crash Inspires New Aviation Safety Legislation – Findlaw KnowledgeBase, September 23, 2009
Another Level of Justice: The Public Apology – Published in Andrews Aviation Litigation Reporter, Volume 24, Issue 5 / April 2006 by Thomson West and ATLA-Association of Trial Lawyers of America Aviation Law Section Newsletter Vol. 13, No. 3, Spring, 2006

Pro Bono and Civic Activities

Arbitrator/Mediator–Los Angeles Superior Court
Served as Chairman of the Board, and was a founder of the Family Assistance Program, a charitable, public benefit corporation organized to assist homeless families (originally known as the Family Assistance Program of Hollywood.)
A founder of, and general counsel for, The Women’s Clinic, a free clinic providing health care needs to needy women in Los Angeles.

Published Cases

Inversiones Papaluchi S.A.S. et al., Petitioners, v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Respondent; Robinson Helicopter Company, Inc., et al., Real Parties in Interest. 20 Cal.App.5th 1055 (Feb 14, 2018 CA App 2nd) [Preemptory writ of mandate issued directing trial court to vacate its prior order denying plaintiffs’ Colombian corporations’ motion to quash service of summons and dismiss cross-complaints, and to issue a new order granting the motion to quash and dismissing the cross-complaints of Robinson Helicopter (for failure to timely effect service within 3 years of filing cross-complaint), Rolls-Royce Corporation and Honeywell (for failure to adhere to article 19 of the Hague Service Convention)].
Selke v. Germanwings GmbH, 261 F. Supp. 3d 645 (E.D. Va. 2017) (Virginia court had personal jurisdiction over a German airline, involving Germanwings Flight 9525 from Barcelona, Spain to Düsseldorf, Germany, whose pilot committed suicide by crashing the plane into the French Alps and killing all 150 on board, because the airline sold its tickets to passengers that resided in Virginia through its authorized agent, United Airlines)
Tucker v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 701 F.Supp.2d 1040 (S.D.Ind.2010) (denying defendant’s learned intermediary defense and further allowing plaintiffs’ experts to testify regarding the causal association between antidepressants and increased suicidal behavior)
Collins v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 2008 WL 744070 (Pa. Ct.Com.Pl. March 11, 2008)
Knipe v. SmithKline Beecham, 583 F.Supp.2d 602 (E.D.Pa. 2008) (holding that a drug manufacturer owes a duty to warn regarding risks associated with off-label uses and allowing plaintiffs’ claims for compensatory and punitive damages to proceed to the jury)
Knipe v.SmithKline Beecham, 583 F.Supp.2d 553 (E.D.Pa 2008) (holding that plaintiffs’ claims are not preempted by federal law)
Tucker v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 596 F.Supp.2d 1225 (S.D.Ind. 2008) (granting plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration and holding that plaintiff’s claims are not preempted by federal law)
McCoy v. Southwest Airlines Co., Inc. 208 F.R.D. 617 (C.D.Cal. 2002)
McCoy v. Southwest Airlines Co., Inc. 211 F.R.D. 381 (C.D.Cal., 2002)
Brooks vs. St. Mary’s Hospital 57 C.A.4th 241, 66 C.R.2d 820 (1997) [Preemption Doctrine/Constitutional Law] [Case settled pending re-hearing; depublished]
In Re Aircrash Disaster Near Cerritos, DiCosta vs. Aeronaves de Mexico, SA 973 F.2d 1490 (9th Cir. 1992) [Emotional Distress]
Gradus vs. Hanson Aviation 158 C.A.3d 1038, 205 C.R. 211 (1984) [Duty of common carrier (see BAJI 6.51); Fed. Avi. Regs., Part 135, Res Ipsa Loquitur, Negligence] [Closing argument published by Million Dollar Verdicts by Western Masters]
Harris Corp. vs. Comair 712 F.2d 1069 (6th Cir. 1983) [Right of employer to collect for death of employee; Avi. Accid. Law; Conflict of laws, Negligence]
Sevilla vs. Stearns-Roger, Inc. 101 C.A.3d 608, 161 C.R. 700 (1980) [Product Liability]
Flashman v. Superior Court (Pacific Southwest Airlines) 107 Cal.App.3d 117, 165 Cal.Rptr. 680, Cal.App. 4 Dist. (1980) [Coordination and venue]
La Pietra vs. Freed 87 C.A.3d 384, 151 C.R. 554 (1979) [Arbitration]
Cable vs. Sahara Tahoe Corp. 93 C.A.3d 1025, 155 C.R. 770 (1979) [Conflict of laws]
Benjamins vs. British European Airways 572 F.2d 913 (2nd Cir. 1978) [Warsaw Convention]
Baxter vs. Superior Court 19 C.3d 461, 138 C.R. 315 (1977) [Loss of consortium]
Drenzek vs. Inmont Corp. 57 C.A.3d 878, 129 C.R. 429 (1976) [Assumption of Risk]
Dassin vs. Darlene Knitwear 387 F.Supp. 958 (USDC, D.Puerto Rico–1974) [In personam jurisdiction]
Cacciaguidi v. Elliott 39 Cal.App.3d 261, 114 Cal.Rptr. 93, 39 Cal. Comp. Cases 963, Cal.App. 2 Dist. (1974)
People vs. Powell 14 C.A.3d 693, 92 C.R. 501 (1971) [Felony murder rule]
U.S.A. vs. Moore 427 F.2d 1020 (10th Cir.–1970) [Administrative Law; equitable relief, injunctions]