Best Lawyers® has selected Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman attorney and shareholder, Timothy A. Loranger, as the 2020 “Lawyer of the Year” for Personal Injury Litigation in Los Angeles. This recognition can only be earned by one lawyer receiving the highest overall peer feedback in one legal practice area in one metropolitan region. This distinction exemplifies an exceptional level of trust and respect that a lawyer has earned from his or her peers.
Timothy A. Loranger | Aviation and Military Accident Attorney
Timothy A. Loranger concentrates his practice on personal injury, wrongful death, product liability law, aviation accidents, and commercial ground transportation accidents. Best Lawyers has recognized Tim since 2017 in Aviation Law, Personal Injury Litigation and Product Liability Litigation.
A veteran of the US Marine Corps, Tim takes great pride in representing the brave men and women who serve our country in uniform, and their families, when harmed in transportation and aviation disasters, as well as civilians who have been injured in commercial transportation accidents. Tim has successfully represented service members in catastrophic military accidents and is currently representing the families of 10 U.S. Marines killed in the 2017 crash of Yanky 72, a Marine KC-130T operated by VMGR-452 near Itta Bena, Mississippi. He is also representing four U.S. Marines, injured when their amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) exploded after driving over an exposed natural gas line during a training exercise at Camp Pendleton, and members and family of the U.S. Army 12th Aviation Battalion, injured and killed in a catastrophic Black Hawk helicopter crash in Maryland in 2017. He also represents clients injured in commercial transportation accidents across the country, such as truck accidents, helicopter and small plane crashes.
Mr. Loranger is passionate about representing his armed services comrades who are needlessly injured. When filing the lawsuit in Connecticut Superior Court on behalf of the three service men injured in the Black Hawk crash, he stated, “Selling aircraft to the military knowing it could be defective and dangerous is a serious breach of the public trust. While no legal remedy will ever undo the harm caused by this senseless tragedy, justice for our clients will hopefully deter this type of negligent behavior in the future.”
Tim has successfully resolved numerous complicated cases on behalf of military service members, a client base that he feels a duty to serve. Service members are harmed every year in preventable military accidents caused by defective manufacturing, design flaws, or negligence on the part of military contractors. Tim and his associates at Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman are committed to holding any party that threatens the safety of the brave men and women who fight for our country responsible.
In addition to his work in the courtroom, Tim is a committed safety advocate who works ceaselessly to improve consumer safety legislation. As a strong advocate for victim’s rights and equal access to justice, Tim is a proud member of the American Association for Justice and serves as the Vice Chair of the Aviation Law Section. Tim is also a proud member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) Board of Governors, a position he has held since 2014. During his CAALA tenure, Tim has received three presidential awards for his tireless efforts to preserve victims’ rights and for his advocacy for consumer safety. He currently serves as the Chair of the CAALA List Serve Committee and has also served on the Government Relations Committee, the Public Relations Committee, the New Lawyers Committee, and the Mentor Program.
Tim is also selected as a Top Rated Aviation & Aerospace Attorney in Los Angeles in Super Lawyers®, has an Avvo Superb Rating of 10, is included in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers and the National Association of Distinguished Counsel Nation’s Top One Percent.
Timothy A. Loranger Assisted the 2018 Trial Team in the 2015 Seattle Duck Boat Accident Case
Tim is very proud of the work he did to work up his clients’ case involving the Seattle Duck Boat crash. On the morning of September 24, 2015, “DUCK 6,” an amphibious duck boat vehicle known as an “APV” (amphibious passenger vehicle), was traveling north on Washington State Route 99 when it suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure, crossed a double yellow line and collided with a charter bus loaded with students from North Seattle College. All five of the fatalities were aboard the bus, which was significantly damaged in the accident.
In September of 2016, Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman filed a lawsuit against Ride the Ducks on behalf of the family of Claudia Derschmidt, one of the students on the bus to perish in the tragic crash. Lawsuits filed on behalf of 43 plaintiffs were consolidated for trial.
Karen Koehler from the law firm of Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Koehler Moore served as lead trial counsel in the case. Tim assisted extensively with pre-trial work pertaining to liability issues, mechanical defects, and service bulletins.
The Seattle duck boat trial began on Oct. 16, 2018. After months of trial proceedings and more than a week of deliberations, the jury found that Ride the Ducks International and Ride the Ducks Seattle were liable for the crash, awarding the plaintiffs $123 million. The verdict concluded that Ride the Ducks International carried 67-70% liability for the crash and Ride the Ducks Seattle bears 30-33% liability depending on whether the victims were passengers on the duck boat or the charter bus.
The jury awarded the plaintiffs compensation ranging from tens of thousands to tens of millions. The Derschmidt family received more than $20 million in damages ($386,400 for economic damages and $20 million for non-economic damages).
About Best Lawyers
Best Lawyers® is recognized as the first and foremost resource for the best legal talent in the United States and around the world. Each year, Best Lawyers presents Lawyer of the Year awards to one attorney in each practice area and geographic region with the highest overall peer feedback.
Best Lawyers bases its award criteria entirely on peer review. The methodology is designed to accurately reflect the consensus opinion of leading lawyers regarding the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same area of practice and geographical area.
“Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.”