R. Brent  Wisner

MANAGING PARTNER

R. Brent Wisner is the managing partner and lead trial attorney at Wisner Baum. Recognized as one of America’s 50 Most Influential Trial Lawyers by Trial Lawyer Magazine, Brent has built a reputation for taking on large corporations in high stakes litigation and winning significant verdicts and settlements for his clients. 

Over the last several years, Brent has served on the plaintiff’s leadership for multiple mass torts, earned jury verdicts worth a combined $2.427 billion, and helped negotiate settlements in excess of $1 billion—all before the age of 40. He is currently the youngest attorney in American history to win a multi-billion-dollar jury verdict, which he achieved with a $2 billion Roundup cancer verdict against Monsanto on behalf of the Pilliods. 

While success in the courtroom is often measured exclusively by dollars and cents, Brent’s legal work has led to changes in business practices that will protect people and the environment for generations. Hundreds of media publications across the globe have asked for his perspective on a variety of pressing legal issues. 

His team has obtained the first non-settlement national Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) class action lawsuit against Big Pharma. The RICO case is against Takeda Pharmaceutical Company and Eli Lilly and Company. The class action alleges both drug companies conspired to conceal the bladder cancer risk associated with the diabetes drug, Actos, because they knew that adding a cancer warning label would harm sales. Experts say the damages total under RICO with trebled damages could reach $7 billion or more.

Wisner Baum is also leading several mass tort litigations that will see their first trials in the country. These include the Zantac cancer litigation in California, in which he serves as co-lead counsel for the Ranitidine Product Cases JCCP 5150 where at least 5,000 cases are filed. Brent also serves as Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead National Counsel for the Delaware Zantac litigation where more than 75,000 plaintiffs have filed lawsuits. Wisner Baum will also try the first of its kind toxic baby food lawsuit in California in 2023 and the first Gardasil HPV vaccine injury lawsuit against Merck, likely in 2024.

Brent believes that being a trial lawyer is more than just securing large verdicts, it is also about using the law to affect real change and obtaining justice for your clients. 

A perfect example of using the law to make the world a better place is his firm’s release of the Monsanto Papers. By releasing unsealed key internal Monsanto documents to the EU, US DOJ and California EPA, the truth was revealed about Monsanto’s rampant corporate malfeasance to manipulate the science and collude with the EPA to hide the health risks associated with using Roundup. These documents helped change the narrative across the globe surrounding the weed killer.

EDUCATION

• Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., 2010 (Juris Doctor)
• Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy, Washington, D.C., 2010 (Master of Public Policy)
• University of California, Los Angeles, 2005 (Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science)
• Georgetown Public Policy Review, Executive Editor
• Mock Trial: Georgetown Law Barristers’ Council, Trial Advocacy, Managing Director

COURT ADMISSIONS

• California, 2011
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 2012
• U.S. Dist. Court, Central District of California, 2013
• U.S. Dist. Court, Eastern District of California, 2013
• U.S. Dist. Court, Southern District of California, 2013
• U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, 2013
• U.S. Supreme Court, 2014
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 2014
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2014
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, 2015
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin, 2016
• U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, 2016
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2017
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, 2020
• District of Columbia, 2021
• The District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 2021

AWARDS AND HONORS

• National Law Journal’s list of Class Action/Mass Tort Litigation Trailblazers, 2023
• Top 100 Lawyers in California, 2023, Daily Journal
• The Best Lawyers in America® 2021- 2024
• 2023 Trial Lawyer of the Year Finalist, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
• Top 100 Lawyers in California 2022, Daily Journal
• Selected as an Associate Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, 2022
• Clarence Darrow Award, MTMP-Mass Torts Made Perfect, 2021
• Consumer Attorney of the Year, Finalist 2021, Consumer Attorneys of California
• California Powerhouse, Law360 Regional Powerhouse Series, 2021
• The American Lawyer’s West Trailblazers, 2021
• Selected: Southern California Super Lawyers® – Rising Stars, 2016 – 2023
• Top List: Up-And-Coming-100, 2018-2021 Southern California Rising Stars
• Featured on 2021 magazine cover
• Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers, 2019 - 2023
• Law360 Rising Star (40 under 40) Product Liability, 2021
• Client Champion Silver Award - Martindale Hubbell, 2021 - 2022
• The National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40
• Avvo.com Superb Score 10 out of 10
• Top Plaintiffs Lawyers in California, 2021, Daily Journal
• Product Liability Practice Group of the Year 2020, Law360
• MVP of the Year 2020, Product Liability, Law360
• Top Plaintiffs Lawyers in California, 2020, Daily Journal
• President, Products Liability Trial Lawyers Association – Top 25, 2020-23
• Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers, 2020
• 2020 Elite Trial Lawyers Mass Torts Law Firm of the Year, Finalist, ALM and National Law Journal
• Top 100 Lawyers in California 2020, Daily Journal
• Verdicts Hall of Fame Inductee, The National Law Journal and VerdictSearch
• 2019 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyer of the Year, National Trial Lawyers and ALM
• America’s 50 Most Influential Trial Lawyers, 2019, Trial Lawyer Magazine and The National Law Journal
• Top 100 Verdicts 2019, ALM, National Law Journal, Verdict Search (Pilliod et al. v. Monsanto Co.)
• 2019 Trial Lawyer of the Year Finalist, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
• Winning Litigators 2019, The National Law Journal
• Top 40 Under 40 Attorneys in California, 2019, Daily Journal (lifetime award)
• Number 1 Verdict in California in 2019, Topverdict.com (Pilliod et al. v. Monsanto Co.)
• Top 10 Verdicts in California in 2019, Topverdict.com (Pilliod et al. v. Monsanto Co.)
• 2019 Elite Trial Lawyers Mass Torts Trial Team of the Year, The National Law Journal and The Trial Lawyer Magazine
• Top Plaintiffs Lawyers in California, 2019, Daily Journal
• The Round Table: America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyers, Trial Lawyer Magazine and The National Law Journal
• Trial Team of the Year 2019, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100
• Daily Journal Top Verdicts, 2018
• Number 1 Product Liability Verdict in California in 2018, Topverdict.com (Johnson v. Monsanto Co.)
• Top 10 Personal Injury Verdicts in the U.S. in 2018, Topverdict.com (Johnson v. Monsanto Co.)
• Top 100 Verdicts 2018, ALM, National Law Journal, Verdict Search (Johnson v. Monsanto Co.)
• CVN’s Top 10 Most Impressive Plaintiff Verdicts of 2018
• 2018 Elite Trial Lawyers, Winner Pharmaceutical Litigation, The National Law Journal
• Top 100 Lawyers in California 2018, Daily Journal
• Law360 Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar (lifetime award)
• Top 10 Product Liability Verdicts in Illinois in 2017, Topverdict.com (Dolin v. GSK)
• Top 100 Product Liability Verdicts in the U.S. in 2017, Topverdict.com (Dolin v. GSK)

LITIGATION LEADERSHIP

• Co-Lead Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel for the Ranitidine Product Cases, also known as the Ranitidine (Zantac) Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings (JCCP 5150), California Superior Court for the County of Alameda, California, 2021-
• Member, Practices and Procedures Team, In re Zantac/Ranitidine NDMA Litigation, MDL No. 2924 (U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida), 2020
• Co-Chair Zantac Litigation Group, AAJ – American Association for Justice, 2020 – present
• Liaison Counsel to Federal MDL-2741 In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation for Roundup JCCP 4953 Alameda 2018 – present
• Trial Co-Lead Counsel, Pilliod et al. v. Monsanto.Company (3rd Roundup cancer verdict $2.055 billion), Oakland, California, 2019
• Trial Counsel, Hardeman vs. Monsanto Company (2nd Roundup cancer verdict $80 million), San Francisco, California, 2019
• Trial Co-Lead Counsel, Dewayne “Lee” Johnson vs Monsanto Company (1st Roundup cancer verdict $289.2 million), San Francisco, California, 2018
• Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, Administrator and Co-Lead Counsel for the Roundup Products Cases, known as the Roundup Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings (JCCP 4953), California Superior Court for the County of Alameda, California, 2018 – present
• Trial Co-Lead Counsel, Wendy B. Dolin vs GlaxoSmithKline LLC (generic Paxil suicide lawsuit), Chicago, Illinois, 2017
• Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee / Liaison Counsel for the Cymbalta Drug Cases JCCP 4825 Los Angeles 2015 – present
• Trial Co-Lead Counsel, Hagen-Brown vs Eli Lilly (Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuit), Richmond, Virginia, 2015

MEMBER

• State Bar of California
• Consumer Attorneys of California, President’s Club Benefactor, Sustaining Member
• Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
• San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
• American Association for Justice: Leader’s Forum - Champion; Section on Toxic, Environmental, and Pharmaceutical Torts; Herbicides and Pesticides Litigation Group; Class Action Litigation Group; Zantac Litigation Group (Co-Chair)
• Associate Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
• Diversity Law Institute, Litigation Counsel of America
• Trial Lawyer Institute, Litigation Counsel of America
• Federal Bar Association; Federal Litigation Section; Younger Lawyer Division

GOVERNMENT SERVICE

• Law Clerk, Hon. Helen Gillmor, United States District Court, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2010 – 2012
• Judicial Extern, Hon. Marian Blank Horn, United States Court of Federal Claims, Washington, D.C., 2009
• Summer Extern, United States Attorney’s Office, Civil Fraud Division, Los Angeles, California, 2008
• Brian Ohleyer Legislative Intern, Office of United States Senator Barbara Boxer, Washington, D.C., 2004 – 2005

GOVERNMENTAL TESTIMONY

Briefing before Parliament of Canada’s Green Party of Canada about the $289M Monsanto Roundup cancer verdict and the Monsanto Papers at Parliament Hill, Ottawa, January 30, 2019

PRO BONO AND CIVIC ACTIVITIES

Briefing in Brussels- Attorney Wisner, his law partner, Michael Baum, and two clients, Teri McCall and John Barton, traveled to Brussels by invitation to meet with and brief EU press, lawmakers from Germany and France, and staffers for various Members of European Parliaments (MEPs). They arrived just days before a hearing organized by EU environmental and agricultural committees to discuss their firm’s release of the Monsanto Papers and allegations that Monsanto unduly influenced studies on glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. They warned officials about the cancer risk associated with glyphosate and Roundup. Attorneys Wisner and Baum also sent a letter to EU officials requesting they conduct an official inquiry into Monsanto’s manipulation of science and potential collusion with regulators. Belgium, October 4-5, 2017

Published the Monsanto Papers - During the Monsanto Roundup cancer litigation, Brent, his partner, Michael Baum, and their team, declassified and published internal documents known as the Monsanto Papers, revealing Monsanto’s scientific manipulation to hide the truth about Roundup’s harmful effects. This evidence and the successful plaintiffs verdicts have changed how the world questions the safety of Roundup, resulting in regulatory changes, restrictions and bans of glyphosate across the globe. August 1, 2017 through December 2019

Georgetown University recognized Brent for his commitment to public interest law and received a pro bono service award for completing over 750 hours of volunteer legal work.

GUEST SPEAKER

• American Association for Justice Conferences
• Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles Conventions
• Harris Martin Conferences and Webinars
• Harvard University, Harvard Law School
• Louisiana State Bar Association Annual Complex Litigation Symposium
• Mass Torts Made Perfect Conferences and Webinars
• Mass Torts Puerto Rico Conferences
• Masters of Mass Tort Conferences
• San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association Conferences
• The George Washington University, James F. Humphreys Complex Litigation Center
• University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) School of Law
• University of San Diego, School of Law
• University of Texas at Austin, School of Law
• Yale University, Yale Law School

AUTHOR

• How to Use Deposition Video at Trial, The Trial Lawyer, Fall 2022, The San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association (Co-authored with Pedram Esfandiary)
• Politics of Enforcement: How the Department of Justice Enforces the Civil False Claims Act, 17 GEO. PUB. POL’Y REV. 43-60, 2012
• Judicial Activism-The Roberts Court in the Coming Term, GEO. PUB. POL’Y REV., Dec. 31, 2009
• Asylum Denied: Seeking Asylum in the Age of Terrorism, 12 GEO. PUB. POL’Y REV. 21, 2007
• Expressing the Sense of the House of Representatives Regarding the Violation of the Human Rights of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Sigma Huda, and Others, by the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh, H. R. 761, 110th Cong., 2007

PUBLISHED CASES

• Carson v. Monsanto Company, 51 F.4th 1358, (C.A.11 Ga. 2022) Products Liability — Preemption. EPA registration process for sale of pesticides did not support preemption of state-law claim for failure to warn.     
• Carson v. Monsanto Company, 39 F.4th 1334, C.A.11 Ga. 2022) Products Liability — Preemption. EPA registration process for sale of pesticides did not support preemption of state-law claim for failure to warn.
• Jones v. Monsanto Company, 38 F.4th 693, (C.A.8 Mo. 2022) Civil Rights — Free Speech. Order for cy pres distribution of residual funds, after class-action settlement, was not compelled speech under First Amendment.
• Pilliod v. Monsanto Company, 282 Cal.Rptr.3d 679, (Cal.App. 1 Dist. 2021) Products Liability — Damages. Sufficient evidence supported finding that manufacturer consciously disregarded public health and safety in continuing to sell carcinogenic herbicide.
• Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82 Health Care Fund v. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, 520 F.Supp.3d 1258 (C.D.Cal. 2021) Torts — RICO. Class action claims against pharmaceutical companies for violation of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act were adequately alleged.
• Hardeman v. Monsanto Company, 833 Fed.Appx. 92, C.A.9 Cal. 2020) Litigation — Sanctions. District court did not find that attorney directly violated its pretrial orders, and thus abused its discretion in sanctioning attorney.
• Johnson v. Monsanto Company, 266 Cal.Rptr.3d 111, (Cal.App. 1 Dist. 2020) Products Liability — Damages. Award of future noneconomic damages in products liability case would be reduced from $37,000,000 to $4,000,000.
• Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82 Health Care Fund v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Limited, 943 F.3d 1243, (C.A.9 Cal. 2019) Torts — RICO. Plaintiffs plausibly alleged element of proximate cause, as required to support civil RICO claim against pharmaceutical company.
• Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82 Health Care Fund v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Limited, 796 Fed.Appx. 919, (C.A.9 Cal. 2019) Commercial Law — Unfair Practices. Consumer sufficiently alleged damages, as required to state Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act claim.
• In re Celexa and Lexapro Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, 915 F.3d 1, (C.A.1 (Mass. 2019) Torts — RICO. FDA approval of pharmaceutical manufacturer’s antidepressant did not preclude RICO claims based on manufacturer’s pre-approval “off-label” marketing.
• Blitz v. Monsanto Company, 317 F.Supp.3d 1042, (W.D.Wis. 2018) Commercial Law — Unfair Practices. Consumer’s state law claims against herbicide manufacturer were not preempted by Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
• Dolin v. GlaxoSmithKline LLC, 269 F.Supp.3d 851, (N.D.Ill. 2017) Products Liability — Warnings. Sufficient evidence supported finding that warnings regarding risk of suicide on antidepressant’s label were inadequate and misleading.
• Dolin v. SmithKline Beecham Corporation, 62 F.Supp.3d 705, (N.D.Ill. 2014) Health — Drugs. Drug manufacturer’s relation to plaintiff was sufficient to impose reasonable conduct duty, supporting negligence claim related to design and warning.

ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES

• French
• Spanish (Conversational)

PRACTICE AREAS

• Class Actions
• Complex and Multi-District Litigation
• Consumer Fraud Litigation
• Defective Medical Devices
• Personal Injury
• Prescription Drugs
• Pharmaceutical Drug Product Liability
• Zantac Cancer Lawsuit
• Product Liability Law
• Toxic Torts
• Toxic Baby Food
• Monsanto Roundup Cancer
• Wrongful Death Law