
Referring Counsel
Building Relationships Through Co-Counsel and Referring Attorneys
Many of the cases we handle come to us through word-of-mouth from clients and referrals from other attorneys and law firms. Our legal colleagues choose our firm for many reasons and under varying contexts. In some cases, certain referring law firms do not specialize in our field. Sometimes a referring lawyer is seeking a better equipped law firm with greater resources to represent their client. Whatever the reason, cases that are referred to our firm always benefit the clients as well as the referring attorney.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shares his thoughts about what it is like working with our law firm (formerly Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman).
At the beginning of every case that is referred to us, we negotiate the sharing of the attorney’s fees. We conduct these negotiations professionally and with dignity pursuant to the California Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 2-200 Financial Agreements Among Lawyers.
We also participate in joint ventures with varying amounts of involvement on cases with referring law firms, whether it is as equal co-counsel or in a more involved aspect. In such cases both firms work together handling different aspects of the case.
We, at Wisner Baum, take great pride in our professional relationships with referring attorneys and understand that their name and reputation remains associated with the case after referral. We also understand that each case and each referring attorney is different, and we take the appropriate actions to become involved as is suitable.
Lawyers looking to refer us a case should call us at (855) 948-5098 or complete our online form.

MEET OUR TEAM
A TRADITION OF SUCCESS

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R. Brent Wisner Attorney, Managing Partner
R. Brent Wisner is the managing partner of Wisner Baum and is based at our San Francisco Bay Area office. Brent is driven by a deep-rooted passion for using the law to help those who have been marginalized and hurt by large, and sometimes malicious, corporations.
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Michael Baum Attorney, Senior Partner
Michael L. Baum is a senior partner of Wisner Baum (formerly Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman) with nearly 40 years of experience. He was the managing partner of Baum Hedlund from 1993 to 2022 and proudly turned over the reins to R. Brent Wisner in January of 2023.
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Bijan Esfandiari Attorney, Senior Partner
Bijan Esfandiari is a pharmaceutical product liability litigation attorney and senior partner at Wisner Baum in Los Angeles. Since joining the firm in 2007, Bijan has worked as lead counsel on several cutting-edge pharmaceutical and medical device cases.
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Timothy Loranger Attorney, Senior Partner, Pilot, Marine Corps Veteran
Timothy A. Loranger is an attorney and senior partner at the national mass disaster law firm of Wisner Baum. A consumer attorney, pilot, and avid citizen advocate.
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Monique Alarcon Attorney, Senior Associate
Monique Alarcon is an attorney in the Los Angeles office of Wisner Baum where she focuses her practice on the firm’s medical device cases, pharmaceutical drug liability and consumer fraud litigation.
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W. Crawford Appleby IV Attorney, Senior Associate
William Crawford Appleby IV is an attorney in the Los Angeles office of Wisner Baum. He focuses on complex law and motion matters, in-depth legal research and writing, and case strategy.
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Pedram Esfandiary Attorney, Partner
Pedram Esfandiary is a partner and trial attorney based in the Los Angeles office of Wisner Baum, where he concentrates his practice on toxic tort injuries, pharmaceutical drug liability, class actions, consumer fraud litigation and police misconduct lawsuits.
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Adam Foster Associate, Attorney
Adam M. Foster is an attorney in the Los Angeles office of Wisner Baum. Adam concentrates his practice on class actions and mass torts particularly those related to pharmaceuticals, consumer products, and products liability, generally.
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Matthew French Associate, Attorney
Matthew P. French is an attorney at Wisner Baum’s Los Angeles office, where he focuses his practice on the firm’s commercial transportation accident cases. Led by a strong desire to help people when they need it most, Matthew’s clients appreciate his empathetic approach to how he handles his cases.
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Ari Friedman Attorney, Partner
Ari Friedman is a partner and trial attorney at Wisner Baum where he focuses his practice on complex and multi-district litigation, product liability, and personal injury and wrongful death cases stemming from transportation accidents (including aviation accidents and truck crashes) and other catastrophic injury (including TBI).
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Harrison James Associate, Attorney
Harrison E. James is an attorney in the Los Angeles office of Wisner Baum, where he focuses his practice on the firm’s pharmaceutical drug liability, class action, and consumer fraud litigation.
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Mayra Maturana Associate, Attorney
Mayra Maturana is an attorney in the Los Angeles office of Wisner Baum where she concentrates her practice on toxic tort injuries. She is part of firm’s legal team handling the toxic baby food litigation.
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Clay Robbins III Attorney, Partner
Clay Robbins III is an attorney and partner in the Los Angeles office of Wisner Baum. A third-generation California lawyer, Clay concentrates his practice on commercial transportation accident litigation and mass disasters.
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Stephanie Sherman Attorney, Partner
Stephanie B. Sherman is a multiple award-winning trial lawyer and partner at Wisner Baum. With over 20 years of experience, she has helped thousands of clients in serious personal injury, wrongful death, product liability, chemical exposure, and dangerous pharmaceutical cases.
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Helen Tokar Attorney, Senior Associate
Helen E. Tokar is an attorney in the Los Angeles office of Wisner Baum where she focuses her practice on the firm’s Zantac cancer litigation.
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Cara Luther Attorney of Counsel
Cara J. Luther is of counsel to Wisner Baum, focusing on the firm’s mass disaster cases and commercial transportation accident cases. She worked for 31 years as a full-time attorney at the firm until 2022.
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Frances Phares Attorney of Counsel
Frances M. Phares is of counsel to Wisner Baum, where she focuses her practice on personal injury and wrongful death litigation stemming from major transportation disasters, pharmaceutical product liability cases and toxic exposure across the nation.
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Mark Schlein Attorney of Counsel
Mark H. Schlein transitioned to ”of counsel” status to Wisner Baum in 2022 and continues to focus on the firm’s whistleblower qui tam cases. For 11 years he worked full time as the firm’s top whistleblower attorney, handling dozens of whistleblower cases.
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Ronald L. Goldman Pilot, Attorney of Counsel, Retired
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.
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Paul Hedlund Senior Shareholder, Mechanical Engineer, Retired
Paul J. Hedlund was an attorney for 45 years and a member of our team at Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman for 30 of those years. He served as one of the firm’s senior shareholders for more than 20 years, overseeing the firm’s major transportation accident cases.
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J. Clark Aristei Senior Shareholder, Deceased
J. Clark Aristei was an attorney for nearly 40 years and a member of our team at Wisner Baum for 26 of those years. Clark served as a senior shareholder for more than two decades and then semi-retired while also acting as Of Counsel to our firm.