Accidents happen every day in the Washington DC area. While some may seem unavoidable, others are caused by a person or entity that acted negligently or recklessly. If you or a family member are injured in a DC accident, you may have a legal claim for damages against the responsible party.
Damage claims include medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and others. For many accident victims, this financial compensation is vital to their recovery.
At Wisner Baum, our personal injury lawyers have helped clients in the Washington, DC, area and across the country secure the financial compensation they need to bounce back after an accident. Retaining an experienced injury attorney to advocate on your behalf levels the playing field against any insurance company or corporate defendant.
Since 1985, our injury attorneys have won $4 billion in compensation for our clients in DC and nationwide. Put your case in the hands of lawyers you can trust to recover full and fair compensation on your behalf.
Some of our noteworthy personal injury verdicts and settlements include:
Recognized by Best Lawyers in America©, Super Lawyers®, and the National Trial Lawyers Top 100, our attorneys are equally at home in a local DC courtroom or a federal MDL (multidistrict litigation) proceeding.
At Wisner Baum, we are dedicated to representing victims of corporate negligence and defective products. While we continue to fight for victims of single-event accidents, our practice is increasingly focused on large-scale mass tort litigation. This allows us to hold powerful corporate defendants accountable when their actions harm many people at once.
Our firm's experience is particularly aligned with complex litigation, demanding detailed investigation, expert testimony, and coordinated legal efforts in local DC courts as well as federal multidistrict litigations (MDLs). Our resources enable us to investigate high-stakes claims, coordinate with co-counsel nationwide, and present your case effectively—whether in front of a DC jury or a federal judge in an MDL.
We have decades of experience advocating and earning maximum compensation for clients harmed by:
If you or a loved one have been harmed by a dangerous product or large-scale corporate wrongdoing, contact our firm for a free and confidential case evaluation.
Plaintiffs must prove three elements to recover compensation in a mass tort or personal injury lawsuit:
Because Washington, DC follows contributory negligence rules, if you are even slightly responsible for your injuries, you may be barred from recovery. In complex mass tort cases, this principle can affect your claim differently than in simple auto accidents, especially when multiple defendants or exposures are involved.
In most Washington, D.C. personal injury lawsuits, you have three years from the date of injury to file a claim. However, in mass tort or product liability cases, that deadline may be affected by the discovery rule (when you first learned of the harm) or MDL tolling orders.
Missing the statute of limitations will likely bar you from recovering compensation—making it critical to speak with a personal injury attorney in Washington, D.C. as soon as possible.
A few factors to consider when choosing a lawyer include:
The trial lawyers at Wisner Baum check all these boxes. If you are searching for a lawyer who truly cares about your well-being, turn to our award-winning legal team for help. With no upfront fees, there is nothing to lose.
Hiring an experienced mass tort and personal injury attorney can improve your chances of success in a lawsuit, whether the case goes to trial or settles out of court. Insurance companies will go to great lengths to minimize liability and limit their payout to you. Perhaps you have already received a phone call promising “the best possible” settlement for your case. Even if this quick settlement seems like a reasonable offer, before you do anything, we recommend a free case review to ensure you are not shortchanging the value of your claim. Remember, our law firm offers free case evaluations, and we only receive a fee if we successfully compensate you.
At Wisner Baum, our personal injury attorneys in Washington, D.C., are motivated to pursue justice on behalf of individuals who have suffered great harm at the hands of another. We not only have the skills needed to litigate claims, but we also have the competency to investigate the complexities of a case and uncover key elements, details, and documents.
Our lawyers are nationally renowned by The Best Lawyers in America©, Martindale-Hubbell®, the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and more.
Our legal team does not believe that a person who was subjected to short-term or long-term disability, even wrongful death, should go unnoticed. Regardless of their circumstances, personal injury victims deserve acclaimed legal advocates to fight for justice.
Reach out today to speak with one of our D.C. based attorneys to discuss your personal injury case.
Yes. Washington, DC residents can participate in national mass tort lawsuits even if the underlying harm occurred elsewhere. Many mass tort cases consolidate claims from across the country, and DC lawyers can file claims in federal or local courts that coordinate these actions. Having a local DC attorney provides important guidance on court procedures and deadlines.
In DC, if you are even 1% at fault, you may be barred from recovery. This makes strong legal representation essential.
Mass torts involve separate but related cases, each evaluated individually; class actions combine many claims into one.
Yes. DC courts frequently handle cases against federal agencies, national corporations, and cases transferred from other jurisdictions.
When you meet with a Washington, DC injury lawyer, bring any medical records, accident reports, product receipts or packaging, correspondence with insurers or defendants, and financial documents related to lost wages or expenses. This documentation helps your attorney evaluate the strength of your claim and determine eligibility for mass tort participation.
In most personal injury and mass tort cases, you have three years from the date of injury to file a lawsuit in Washington, DC. However, specific deadlines may vary depending on the nature of the injury and whether the “discovery rule” or tolling applies in complex mass torts. It’s crucial to consult a DC personal injury lawyer promptly to protect your rights.
In May of 2019, the jury in the case of Pilliod et al. v, Monsanto Company ordered the agrochemical giant to pay $2.055 billion in damages to the plaintiffs, Alva and Alberta Pilliod, a Bay Area couple in their 70s. R. Brent Wisner served as co-lead trial attorney for the Pilliods, delivering the opening and closing statements and cross-examining several of Monsanto’s experts. Wisner Baum managing shareholder, Michael Baum and attorney Pedram Esfandiary also served on the trial team in the Pilliod case.
The judge later reduced their award to $87M. Monsanto appealed the Pilliod’s verdict which the California Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District denied on August 9, 2021. Monsanto then requested the California Supreme Court review the appeal’s court decision, which the court denied on Nov. 17, 2021. Monsanto (Bayer) then submitted a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court which SCOTUS denied on June 27, 2022, allowing the final judgment of $87M to remain intact.
$289.2 million jury verdict in Monsanto Roundup trial
Wisner Baum co-represented Dewayne “Lee” Johnson in the first Roundup cancer lawsuit to proceed to trial. On Aug. 10, 2018, a San Francisco jury ordered Monsanto to pay $39.25 million in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages to Mr. Johnson, a former groundskeeper who alleged exposure to Monsanto’s herbicides caused him to develop terminal non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Months after the jury verdict, the judge overseeing the trial reduced the punitive damages to $39.25 million. Mr. Johnson decided to accept the remittitur, bringing the adjusted amount awarded to Mr. Johnson $78.5 million.
Monsanto (Bayer) appealed the verdict and Johnson cross appealed. On July 20, 2020, the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict against Monsanto but reduced Mr. Johnson’s award to $20.5 million. The company chose not to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, ending the litigation.
In 2016, Wisner Baum attorney Timothy A. Loranger and six other attorneys in the Plaintiffs’ Management Committee were able to secure a $265 million settlement for victims of the 2015 Amtrak 188 derailment in Philadelphia, one of the largest in the U.S. for 2016.
