California Wildfire Attorneys
Experienced Attorneys Representing Wildfire Victims
California wildfires have killed dozens of people and destroyed thousands of acres. Those who suffered harm or lost their homes, land or property may ask themselves who, if anyone, is responsible for the cost of rebuilding their lives. California fire victims have legal rights and may have compensation claims for serious injuries, property loss or other damages.
Your first step toward resolving insurance issues or pursuing a claim against a responsible party should be to retain an experienced California wildfire lawyer to advocate on your behalf. At Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman, we have experience representing victims of mass disasters, including fires. Our firm has helped thousands of clients win more than $4 billion across all areas of practice.
If you were affected by a California wildfire, fill out our contact form or give us a call at (855) 948-5098 for a free case evaluation.
California Wildfire Lawsuit Team
Our wildfire litigation team includes board-certified trial lawyers with decades of experience litigating fire cases and other mass disasters and two nationally known fire causation experts.
The team includes:
- Ronald L.M. Goldman: Ron is a senior shareholder and a board-certified trial lawyer. Since becoming a lawyer more than 50 years ago, Ron has handled complex litigation at both the trial and appellate levels, and has represented hundreds of people involving personal injury and wrongful death claims related to mass disasters. He has made countless TV, radio and other media appearances as a legal expert for some of the world’s leading news agencies, including 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.
- Michael L. Baum: Michael is the managing shareholder at Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman. He has successfully led the firm through thousands of wrongful death and personal injury cases stemming from mass disasters. His experience litigating fire cases began in 1987 when he worked on the Dupont Plaza Hotel arson case, one of the deadliest hotel fires in U.S. history. Under Michael’s leadership, Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman developed a reputation for breaking new ground, holding Fortune 500 companies accountable, influencing public policy, raising public awareness and improving product safety.
- Cara J. Luther: Cara has 30 years of experience litigating catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases stemming from mass disasters. Before she became an attorney, Cara worked in the insurance industry, first as a sales person and then as a claims adjuster. This experience gives her the skill required to help our clients with insurance matters, as well as the ability to communicate effectively with counsel for the defense and their insurance adjusters in complex cases such as this.
- Brian R. Strange: Brian is the founding partner of Strange & Butler LLP, based in Los Angeles. He is co-counsel to Baum Hedlund, handling the California wildfire litigation. Brian is an experienced and respected class action and complex business trial lawyer with over 30 years of experience. He lives in the Malibu burn area and has personal knowledge of the devastation due to the fire. Brian is listed in Southern California Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America-Best Law Firms.Brian is a former President of the Malibu Boys and Girls Club.
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: One of the leading environmental lawyers in the country, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is co-counsel to Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman in several mass tort litigation, in addition to the wildfire litigation, including the ongoing Monsanto Roundup litigation and the SoCalGas Porter Ranch cases.
- Michael A. Vergon: Mike is a nationally recognized expert in fire investigation working with the Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman California wildfire lawsuit team. He has extensive experience investigating numerous large, multi-million-dollar loss and fire fatality scenes, multi-defendant arson-for-profit cases, and serial arsonists and bombers. Mike will be working alongside fire causation expert, James Finneran, in determining or excluding electrical causes of the fire. He began his career at ATF, where he worked for nearly 24 years. Mike spent the last 15 and a half years of his time at ATF working as a Special Agent Certified Fire Investigator and was also a member of ATF’s National Response Team. Mike is a member of NFPA National Fire Protection Association and National Society of Professional Insurance Investigators.
- James M. Finneran: James has over 35 years of experience in origin and cause investigations, product failure analysis as well as electrical and electronic evaluations. As part of the Baum Hedlund California wildfire litigation team, he will be using his extensive experience in determining or excluding electrical causes of the fire. He is a member of the ASTM Forensic Engineering Committee, the NFPA 921 Committee, and the IEEE. Jim is a Certified Fire Investigator and a Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator. To further his own expertise, Jim has taken part in seminars by the International Association of Arson Investigators, the NFPA and the Defense Research Institute, Inc.