"Ron Goldman had the well-deserved reputation of being an unusually bright, articulate, demanding, caring, and knowledgeable law professor who wanted his students to stretch beyond their comfort level and excel far past the norm. In visiting with alums of Pepperdine University School of Law about their legal education experience, many mention Ron Goldman as having made a lasting impression on them, whether in his Aviation Accident Law class or the Torts class he taught earlier. Mr. Goldman is a scholar/practitioner who is both well-informed and well-prepared to serve the interests of his clients."
Ronald F. Phillips
Vice Chancellor & School of Law Dean Emeritus
Pepperdine University
Ronald L. M. Goldman is a veteran trial lawyer; board certified as a civil trial lawyer, certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is the senior trial attorney for Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman. Since becoming a lawyer in 1963, Ron has handled a wide variety of sophisticated litigation at both the trial and appellate levels and he has litigated hundreds of cases over the past 45 years involving personal injury and wrongful death related to commercial transportation liability and to drug product liability.
He is a pilot and the head of the firm's aviation disaster litigation team. 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 and Insurance and Legal Writing and Analysis.
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 re-enactment of the crash, its subsequent investigation and the ultimate public apology, which aired on National Geographic Television.
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.
He is an AV® Peer Review Rated lawyer through Martindale Hubbell and is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, Who’s Who in America, and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. He is also published in Million Dollar Verdicts by the Masters and has been selected for inclusion in the 2005-2010 Southern California Super Lawyers®.
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 350 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 been seen on TV, radio, and in newspapers such as BBC Radio, ANN News Tokyo, Associated Press, Bloomberg News, BNA Product Safety & Liability Reporter, Chicago Tribune, Forbes.com, Fox News Channel, Guardian Limited, Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, National Law Journal, NPR, 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.
Born:
Education:
- University of Southern California (B.S.L., 1960)
- University of Southern California, School of Law (J.D., 1962)
- Private Pilot License, USA (1980)
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, 1973
- United States Court of Federal Claims, 1974
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, 1977
- District of Columbia, 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
- US Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 2006
- U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, 2008
- US Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, 2008
- US District Court, Western District of New York, 2009
- US District Court, Eastern District of New York, 2009
- US District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2009
Certified:
- Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate, National Board of Trial Advocacy
Member:
- State Bar of California
- District of Columbia Bar
- American Bar Association, The Forum on Air and Space Law, Litigation Section and Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section
- The American Association for Justice (formerly ATLA) Aviation Law Section, STEP-Toxic, Environmental and Pharmaceutical Torts Section
- Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association
- Experimental Aircraft Association
- World Jurist Association of the World Peace Through Law Center
- Founding Member, World Association of Law Professors of the World Peace Through Law Center
- Consumer Attorneys of California
- Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
- Los Angeles County Bar Association
- National Board of Trial Advocacy
- International Bar Association, Aviation Law Committee
- Life Member, Ostriches Anonymous Association (OAA), Promoting Aviation Safety and Risk Awareness
- Co-Lead Plaintiffs' Counsel for the Coordinated Discovery Cases, Southwest Airlines Flight 1455 accident, Burbank, California, 2000
- Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, September 11, 2001 Tort Litigation
- Member, Lead Trial Counsel, Plaintiffs' Steering Committee, MDL-1574, Paxil Products Liability Litigation
- Lead Trial Counsel, 2006; 1998 Bell Helicopter crash in Los Angeles, California
- Lead Trial Counsel, 2006; 2004 Tyson Foods truck crash near Crestline, Ohio
- Plaintiffs' Steering Committee, MDL-1953, Heparin Products Liability Litigation
- Plaintiffs' Steering Committee Member, Chatsworth Metrolink Collision Cases, Chatsworth, California, 2008
- Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, MDL-1967 In Re: Bisphenol-A (BPA) Polycarbonate Plastic Products Liability Litigation, 2009
- Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, MDL-2085, In Re: Air Crash near Clarence Center, New York, on February 12, 2009
Legal Teaching Position:
- Adjunct Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law, 1968 to 1989
Courses Taught by Professor Goldman:
- Aviation Accident Law
- Torts and Insurance
- 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
Lecturer and Delegate:
World Peace Through Law Conferences: New York, Manila, Madrid. Special Guest Lecturer: Christchurch Polytechnic, School of Broadcasting, Christchurch, New Zealand; Shanghai School of Social Science, Shanghai, P.R.C.; Belli Seminars Lecturer; Town Hall Lecturer.
Topics Include:
- Aviation Law
- Product Liability
- Personal Injury
- Tort Law
- Legal Malpractice
- Right of Privacy
- Medical Malpractice
- Constitutional Law
- Criminal Law
Author:
- "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
- "Regional Air Crash Inspires New Aviation Safety Legislation"
Findlaw KnowledgeBase
September 23, 2009
- "American Passengers Have Limited Rights in International Airline Crashes Because
of a Treaty Known as the Montreal Convention"
FindLaw KnowledgeBase
June 8, 2010
Awards and Honors:
Pro Bono & 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:
- U.S.A. vs. Moore
427 F.2d 1020 (10th Cir.--1970)
[Administrative Law; equitable relief, injunctions]
- People vs. Powell
14 C.A.3d 693, 92 C.R. 501 (1971)
[Felony murder rule]
- Cacciaguidi v. Elliott
39 Cal.App.3d 261, 114 Cal.Rptr. 93, 39 Cal. Comp. Cases 963, Cal.App. 2 Dist. (1974)
- 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]
- Baxter vs. Superior Court
19 C.3d 461, 138 C.R. 315 (1977)
[Loss of consortium]
- Benjamins vs. British European Airways
572 F.2d 913 (2nd Cir. 1978)
[Warsaw Convention]
- Cable vs. Sahara Tahoe Corp.
93 C.A.3d 1025, 155 C.R. 770 (1979)
[Conflict of laws]
- La Pietra vs. Freed
87 C.A.3d 384, 151 C.R. 554 (1979)
[Arbitration]
- Flashman v. Superior Court (Pacific Southwest Airlines)
107 Cal.App.3d 117, 165 Cal.Rptr. 680, Cal.App. 4 Dist. (1980)
[Coordination and venue]
- Sevilla vs. Stearns-Roger, Inc.
101 C.A.3d 608, 161 C.R. 700 (1980)
[Product Liability]
- 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]
- 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]
- In Re Aircrash Disaster Near Cerritos,
DiCosta vs. Aeronaves de Mexico, SA
973 F.2d 1490 (9th Cir. 1992)
[Emotional Distress]
- 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]
- McCoy v. Southwest Airlines Co., Inc.
211 F.R.D. 381 (C.D.Cal., 2002)
- McCoy v. Southwest Airlines Co., Inc.
208 F.R.D. 617 (C.D.Cal. 2002)
- 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 the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act)
- Knipe v.SmithKline Beecham, 583 F.Supp.2d 553 (E.D.Pa 2008) (Denying Defendant's motion for summary judgment and holding that plaintiffs' failure to warn claims are not preempted by the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act)
- Knipe v. SmithKline Beecham, 583 F.Supp.2d 602 (E.D.Pa. 2008) (Denying defendant's motion for summary judgment and holding that defendant had a duty to issue warnings regarding off-label uses and also allowing plaintiff's claims for punitive damages to proceed to the jury)
- Collins v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 2008 WL 744070 (Pa. Ct.Com.Pl. March 11, 2008)
- Tucker v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., __ F.Supp.2d __, 2010 WL 1266487 (S.D.Ind., March 30, 2010)
Practice Areas:
- Airline Crash Litigation
- Aviation Accidents
- Aviation Product Liability
- Bus Accidents
- Catastrophic Injury
- Commercial Truck Accidents
- Complex and Multi-District Litigation
- Helicopter Crash Litigation
- Personal Injury Law
- Pharmaceutical Product Liability
- Product Liability
- Wrongful Death Law
RONALD L. M. GOLDMAN 
