Practice Areas: Products liability, Class action & mass torts, Personal injury; view more
Licensed in California since: 2002
Education: University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law
Languages Spoken: English, German, Persian (Farsi)
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2017 - 2023 
Selected to Rising Stars: 2009 - 2016 Call today:
310-909-8212
Free Consultation Wisner Baum LLP
11111 Santa Monica BlvdSuite 1750
Los Angeles, CA 90025 Visit website
Details
Bijan Esfandiari is a pharmaceutical product liability litigation attorney and a senior shareholder partner at Wisner Baum (formerly Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman) in Los Angeles. He has successfully represented clients in state and federal courts across the nation, at both the trial and appellate level, in wrongful death and catastrophic personal injury cases.
He has participated in several cases that have shaped and developed the law for the benefit of injured victims and consumers of pharmaceutical products. In one case of first impression (a case that presents a new issue for legal interpretation), the Court agreed with Bijan's argument and held that drug manufacturers owe an affirmative duty to warn regarding risks associated with children's off-label use.
Bijan's published cases have also exposed reprehensible corporate conduct. In one instance, a federal court in Pennsylvania allowed Bijan's clients to proceed with their punitive damages claims after finding that internal documents demonstrated the defendant had "acted with a wanton and willful disregard for the safety of its consumers."
Where drug makers have tried to convince courts that federal preemption (the doctrine that federal law preempts conflicting state laws) grants them immunity from state lawsuits, Bijan has time and again prevented their escape. In Mason v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., the first and only prescription drug preemption case to be heard by the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the drug maker argued that FDA approval of a drug shielded its manufacturer from fault even if the company later learned of harmful negative reactions. The court, however, sided with Bijan and held that plaintiffs' claims were not preempted by federal law.
Bijan has likewise successfully opposed preemption in numerous other state and federal court cases. He co-authored amicus briefs in support of the respondents in the Supreme Court's landmark cases Wyeth v. Levine, 129 S.Ct. 1187 (2009) and Pliva v. Mensing, 131 S.Ct. 2567 (2011). Bijan received his bachelor's degree (cum laude, 1999) and J.D. degree from UCLA. He has been selected to Best Lawyers®, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers, and Southern California Super Lawyers®. He also - has an rating of 10 out of 10: Superb.
Practice areas
Personal injury - products: plaintiff, Class action/mass torts: plaintiff, Personal injury - general: plaintiffFocus areas
Medical devices, Pharmaceutical, Class actions, Personal injury - plaintiff, Wrongful death
- 60% Personal injury - products: plaintiff
- 30% Class action/mass torts: plaintiff
- 10% Personal injury - general: plaintiff
First Admitted: 2002, California
Professional Webpage: https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/attorneys/bijan-esfandiari/
- University of California School of Law, Los Angeles, California , 2002
- University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., cum laude, 1999
- Member, UCLA School of Law Moot Court Honors Program
- California, 2002
- Co-Lead Plaintiff’s Counsel for the Gardasil MDL - In Re: Gardasil Products Liability Litigation MDL No. 3036 (U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina), 2022
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California, , 2002
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2002
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, 2005
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, 2005
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, 2008
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan, 2008
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2008
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, 2008
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 2009
- U.S. Supreme Court, 2011
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 2012
- U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, 2013
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin, 2021
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, 2021
- State Bar of California
- American Association for Justice: Leader’s Forum
- Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
- Member, UCLA Journal of International Law & Foreign Affairs
- Contributing Author to The Docket, a UCLA School of Law Publication
- Public Counsel Volunteer Attorney, 2007
- Member, Representative Assembly of the Palms Neighborhood Council
- Hricik v. Stryker Biotech, LLC, 89 F. Supp. 3d 694 (E.D. Pa. 2015) (granting plaintiff’s motion to remand the case back to state court), 2015
- Boutte v. Stryker Biotech, LLC, 67 F. Supp. 3d 732, 734 (M.D. La. 2014) (denying defendant’s motion to dismiss and permitting plaintiff to proceed with his products liability claims against medical device manufacturer), 2014
- McCormick v. Medtronic, Inc., 219 Md. App. 485, 101 A.3d 467 (2014) (unanimously reversing the trial court’s preemption/dismissal ruling and holding that injured patient’s claims arising out of medical device manufacturer’s off-label promotion of its medical device were not preempted by federal law and thus allowing plaintiff to proceed with his meritorious claims), 2014
- Cabana v. Stryker Biotech, LLC et al., Case No. BC465313, 2012 WL 3729227 (Cal.Super. Ct., August 20, 2012) (holding that injured patient’s state law claims arising out of medical device manufacturer’s off-label promotion of its bone morphogenetic protein [Infuse] were not expressly nor impliedly preempted by federal law), 2012
- Dorsett v. Sandoz, Inc., 699 F.Supp.2d 1142 (C.D.Cal. 2010) (denying defendants’ preemption motion and holding that both name-brand and generic drug manufacturers have an affirmative duty to issue warnings), 2010
- Tucker v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 701 F.Supp.2d 1040 (S.D.Ind.2010) (denying defendant’s learned intermediary defense and further allowing plaintiffs’ experts to testify regarding the causal association between antidepressants and increased suicidal behavior), 2010
- Mason v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 596 F.3d 387 (7th Cir. 2010) (unanimously reversing the trial court’s preemption ruling and allowing plaintiffs’ claims to proceed to a trial on the merits), 2010
- Forst v. Smithkline Beecham Corp., 639 F.Supp.2d 948 (E.D.Wis.,2009) (holding that plaintiffs’ claims are not preempted by federal law), 2009
- Forst v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 602 F.Supp.2d 960 (E.D.Wis. 2009) (holding that Wisconsin has not adopted the learned intermediary doctrine and allowing all of plaintiffs’ claims, including, negligence, fraud and punitive damages to proceed to the jury), 2009
- Cunningham v. SmithKline Beecham, 255 F.R.D. 474 (N.D.Ind. 2009) (ordering defendant to produce documents and awarding sanctions), 2009
- Knipe v. SmithKline Beecham, 583 F.Supp.2d 602 (E.D.Pa. 2008) (holding that a drug manufacturer owes a duty to warn regarding risks associated with off-label uses and allowing plaintiffs’ claims for compensatory and punitive damages to proceed to the jury), 2009
- Knipe v.SmithKline Beecham, 583 F.Supp.2d 553 (E.D.Pa 2008) (holding that plaintiffs’ claims are not preempted by federal law), 2008
- 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 federal law), 2008
- Berg & Berg Enterprises, LLC v. Sherwood Partners, Inc. (2005) 131 Cal.App.4th 802, 2005
- The Gardasil HPV vaccine litigation is moving forward now that a panel of judges approved the MDL-federal multi-district litigation against Merck (a few days before this interview was conducted). Baum Hedlund Senior Shareholder Bijan Esfandiari sat down with Mark York from Mass Tort News LegalCast to bring everyone up-to-speed on the Gardasil lawsuits. , Gardasil HPV Vaccine Litigation Update with Bijan Esfandiari – Gardasil MDL 3606, 2022
- Hospital Performed Experimental Back Surgeries
- Gardasil litigation update, Co-Chair, Speaker, Co-Chair Welcome; Gardasil Litigation; Gardasil and Autoimmune Injury: Diving Into the Science, HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: Recalled Infant Formula and Gardasil, Legal, Mass Torts, 2022
- Medtronic InFUSE Litigation Group, Status of Cases That Have Survived Preemption Motions and Discovery Strategies and Different Venue Options, Speaker, Status of Cases That Have Survived Preemption Motions and Discovery Strategies and Different Venue Options, American Association for Justice, 2014 AAJ Annual Convention, Baltimore, Maryland, Legal, 2014
- Status of the Infuse Litigation, Speaker, Status of the Infuse Litigation, Mass Torts Made Perfect, Medtronic Infuse Litigation Update, Las Vegas, Nevada, Legal, 2013
- Panel: Corruption, Speaker, Panel: Corruption, Selling Sickness, Selling Sickness, People Before Profits, Session VI, Washington, D.C., Legal, 2013
- Living with the Mensing Decision, Speaker, Living with the Mensing Decision, , Mass Torts Made Perfect, Actos and Pelvic Mesh Litigation Update, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Legal, 2012
- Challenging Medical Ghostwriting in US Courts, Author, Challenging Medical Ghostwriting in US Courts, PLOS Medicine, Legal, 2012
- Legal Implications of Pharmaceutical Ghostwriting, Speaker, Legal Implications of Pharmaceutical Ghostwriting, Faculty of Law’s Conference, The Ethics of Ghost Authorship in Biomedical Research: Concerns and Remedies Workshop, University of Toronto, Legal, 2011
- Levine To Mensing — A Journey From The Sublime To The Ridiculous, Author, Levine To Mensing — A Journey From The Sublime To The Ridiculous, LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Drugs & Devices, Volume 16, Issue #16, Legal, 2011
- Reason Magazine Perpetuates False Information About Safety and Efficacy of Antidepressants, Author, Reason Magazine Perpetuates False Information About Safety and Efficacy of Antidepressants, Baum Hedlund Law, Legal, 2011
- Outsmarting the 'Learned-Intermediary Doctrine' Defense, Author, Outsmarting the 'Learned-Intermediary Doctrine' Defense, The Advocate, 2010
- Preemption's Requiem in the Wake of Wyeth v. Levine, Author, Preemption's Requiem in the Wake of Wyeth v. Levine, LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Drugs & Devices, Volume 14, Issue #10, Legal, 2009
- Complete Tort Immunity For Drug Manufacturers Is Bad For The Public Health: A Commentary On Colacicco v. Apotex And Other Recent Preemption Decisions, Author, Complete Tort Immunity For Drug Manufacturers Is Bad For The Public Health: A Commentary On Colacicco v. Apotex And Other Recent Preemption Decisions, LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Litigation Report: Antidepressant Report, Volume 4, Issue #10, Legal, 2008
- Oral Advocacy Competition Participant, Speaker, Oral Advocacy Competition Participant, American Bar Association, ABA Forum on Communications Law – Media Advocacy Workshop, Key Largo, Florida, Legal, 2007
- Caught Without a License, Author, Caught Without a License, Marketing Management - Marketing Law, Legal, 2007
- Strategies for Litigating Copyright Cases When Infringement is Uncontested, Speaker, Strategies for Litigating Copyright Cases When Infringement is Uncontested, San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Intellectual Property, Entertainment Law & Internet Law Section, Woodland Hills, California, Legal, 2006
- YouTube Sued: It's a Riot, Author, YouTube Sued: It's a Riot, American Bar Association, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) Media Privacy Committee Newsletter, Legal, 2006
- Camisoles: Providing Thin Protection, Author, Camisoles: Providing Thin Protection, IP Law 360, Legal, 2006
- Grokster: Inducing Further Litigation, Author, Grokster: Inducing Further Litigation, ABA Tort Trial & Practice Section, Intellectual Property Law Committee Newsletter, Legal, 2005
- , The Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers, 2022
- , California Power House, Law360 Regional Powerhouse Series, 2021
- , Up-and-Coming 100: 2016 Southern California Rising Stars – Top List, Rising Stars, 2016
- 2017 – 2020, Selected to: Southern California Super Lawyers, Rising Stars
- 2009 – 2016, Selected to: Southern California Super Lawyers® , Rising Stars
- , Products Liability Trial Lawyers Association – Top 25, The National Trial Lawyers
- , Superb Score 10 out of 10, Avvo.com
- The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- Listed, The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers™
- UCLA School of Law Moot Court Honors Program, UCLA
Office location for Bijan Esfandiari
11111 Santa Monica Blvd
Suite 1750
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone: 310-909-8212
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2017 - 2023
- Rising Stars: 2009 - 2016
