Paul Hedlund

Paul J. Hedlund was an attorney for 45 years and a member of the team at Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman for 30 of those years. He served as one of the firm’s senior shareholders for more than 20 years, overseeing the firm’s major transportation accident cases. Paul focused his practice on commercial transportation accidents including, aviation, bus, train and truck crashes. He received his degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and his law degree from UCLA. Paul was part of the Baum Hedlund legal team that represented some of the victims of the Air Midwest Flight 5481 plane crash, in which 21 people aboard the plane were killed. In the wake of this tragedy, Paul and his partners were able to successfully negotiate an unprecedented public apology from Air Midwest's president as part of the terms of the settlement. Although a substantial monetary settlement was also involved, the clients’ primary focus had been to require accountability by the defendants, either by trial or by public apology, for the operation, maintenance and design deficiencies that caused the aircrash. Additionally, Paul was appointed to the Plaintiffs Steering Committee (PSC) in aviation cases stemming from the United Airlines Flight 232 crash in Sioux City and the Alaska Airlines Flight 261 off the coast of California, along with the September 11, 2001 tort litigation and the 2008 Metrolink train crash in Chatsworth, California. He is also one of only a small number of attorneys to argue a wrongful death case before the Supreme Court. Over the years, Paul's degree in mechanical engineering has served him well in transportation litigation. In 1990, he was the only attorney to testify in front of the California State Legislature Seismic Safety Commission at a hearing concerning the deadly Loma Prieta earthquake. Paul was also the only attorney to testify at a 2005 California state hearing concerning train configurations and safety after the deadly Metrolink train crash in Glendale. Attorney Advertising