Steven Heimberg

Steven Heimberg

Dr. Steven Heimberg has joined Stalwart Law! With this addition to the Stalwart team, we proudly solidify our position as leaders in protecting the rights of those severely injured by the wrongdoing of others.

For 30 years before becoming Partner at Stalwart Law Group in 2022, Dr. Heimberg was the senior partner at Heimberg Barr, LLP. His firm was (and is) the only California law firm ever recognized by the National Law Journal as being the #1 Medical Law Firm in the United States. Heimberg Barr also is one of the very few firms to be recognized as a Top Tier Law Firm in both the field of medical malpractice and the field of personal injury litigation (by U.S. News and World Report and Best Lawyers).

These kudos for his firm reflect the fact that Dr. Heimberg is the top-rated medical malpractice attorney in Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles Magazine, Super Lawyers Magazine, Best Lawyers and U.S. News and World Report.

Background

Dr. Heimberg is a physician as well as an attorney. When his medical career drew him into the legal arena, Dr. Heimberg attended UCLA School of Law.

Dr. Heimberg has vast experience in fighting for clients who have suffered catastrophic injuries from many causes, ranging from medical wrongdoing to accidents to problems with medical products and drugs. Before opening his own firm, he practiced at two of the nation’s preeminent firms representing corporate interests, namely Skadden Arps and the Washington, D.C. predecessor to Reed Smith. He also served as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Health.

Dr. Heimberg’s diverse background has given him a deep understanding of all sides and aspects of injury litigation that allows him to comprehend far better than other attorneys the injuries suffered by his clients as well as the causes of those injuries. Because these are the major points of contention in all major injury cases, including all medical malpractice cases, Dr. Heimberg’s expertise makes him uniquely qualified to work with and against medical experts that are a pivotal part of all such cases.

Unparalleled Achievements

In turn, Dr. Heimberg’s unique background and qualifications have led to unrivaled success for his clients. Indeed, Dr. Heimberg’s courtroom and litigation achievements include obtaining for his clients both the largest medical verdict AND the largest medical settlement (by far) IN THE HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA.

He also has won for his clients what, at the time, were the highest medical verdicts and settlements ever paid in Los Angeles, Riverside, Kern, Ventura, Fresno, and Santa Barbara counties, as well as the largest verdicts for any personal injury for both Santa Barbara and Fresno Counties. Between his successes in trial and in settlement, Dr. Heimberg has obtained well over a billion dollars on behalf of his clients.

Dr. Heimberg’s litigation victories and honors, however, have not been just about dollars. He has constantly pushed the limits of the law, and has produced several important legal changes on behalf of consumers, ranging from new methods for proving the damages suffered by his clients, to limiting wrongdoer’s ability to keep clients from their day in court, to limiting the conduct and wrongdoers protected by MICRA, the California law limiting recovery for medical victims.

Honors Bestowed on Dr. Heimberg by the Legal Community

Not surprisingly given these achievements, Dr. Heimberg has been recognized consistently by his peers as being at the very top of his field. He has been selected numerous times (four of the last six years) by Best Lawyers as its Los Angeles Lawyer of the Year for medical malpractice. He has been honored by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (formerly Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association) as its Trial Lawyer of the Year (nominated nine times, may only win once), and is the first medical attorney and the only physician ever so honored.

The results of lawyer polls published in SuperLawyers and Los Angeles Magazine also have recognized Dr. Heimberg’s accomplishments. Not only has he been named 14 of the last 17 years in their list of Southern California’s Top 100 best lawyers (for all fields, all sides), but also he was determined to be the “top rated medical malpractice attorney in Los Angeles.” Similarly, he has been ranked as a “Best Lawyer” for decades, and as a Top 100 National Trial Lawyer for over 15 years.

Community Involvement

Dr. Heimberg’s advocacy for the disadvantaged and those horribly injured does not end at the courthouse steps. Many of the accomplishments of which he is most proud are humanitarian efforts, primarily in the United States and Cambodia. These activities reflect the credo which he has followed throughout this professional career: “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

In the United States, his efforts center around helping persons who have been partially or completely paralyzed. He has been named Person of the Year by three separate spinal-cord injury organizations, most recently recognized in 2022 by Triumph Foundation, the premiere peer­support organization for the mobility-challenged.

In Cambodia, Dr. Heimberg’s projects include: (1) Co-founding schools in 10 different slum communities in Phnom Penh, providing free education to approximately 2,000 students per year; and (2) working to effect the return of treasures stolen from Cambodia’s world-famous temple complexes (e.g., Angkor Wat). Heimberg is one of the two people officially appointed by Cambodia to negotiate for their return. Through his team’s efforts, multiple collections have been recovered, including several of Cambodia’s greatest treasures, with hopefully much more yet to come.

 

Bio

Dr. Steven Heimberg is a physician as well as an attorney in the United States.  He has been for 30 years the senior partner at Heimberg Barr, LLP, a California law firm selected by the National Law Journal as the #1 Medical Law Firm in America, and a Top Tier Law Firm by U.S. News and World Reports.

His courtroom achievements are unrivaled in his field. They include obtaining for his clients what are by far the largest medical verdicts and settlements in the history of California.

Dr. Heimberg’s successes are reflected in the honors bestowed upon him by his peers.  These include his being selected as: Los Angeles Trial Lawyer of the Year (nominated 9 times); Los Angeles Lawyer of the Year (in his field) four of the last seven years (Best Lawyers in America); and one of Los Angeles’ Top 100 lawyers for well over ten years, as published by Superlawyers Magazine and Los Angeles Magazine.

Far more important to Dr. Heimberg personally, are his humanitarian efforts in the United Sates and Cambodia.  In the United States, these efforts center around the spinal cord-injured community, helping persons who have been partially or completely paralyzed.  He has been named Person of the Year by three separate spinal-cord injury organizations, most recently recognized in 2022 by Triumph Foundation, the premiere peer-support organization for the mobility-challenged.

Since 2006, Dr. Heimberg has devoted much of these efforts to projects in Cambodia.  The two about which he is most passionate are: (1) co-founding numerous free schools in Phnom Penh; and (2) the repatriation to Cambodia of its cultural properties stolen from Cambodian temple complexes.

Since 2006, Dr Heimberg’s schools have expanded to two separate programs (Empower Youth in Cambodia and the Advanced Center for Empowerment), comprising 10 schools located in slum communities in Phnom Penh and Kandal province, servicing approximately 2,000 students per year.  There also is a separate scholarship and leadership program for university hopefuls throughout Cambodia.  Dr. Heimberg also served for years on the board of Cambodian Children’s Fund, a large school serving what was then the community living in and around the garbage dump of Steung Mean Chey.

 

Recovery of Cambodian National Treasures

The repatriation project has been ongoing for more than 10 years.  Since 2018, along with Bradley J. Gordon and their team, Dr. Heimberg has been officially appointed by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts to negotiate on behalf of the Kingdom for the return of Cambodia’s stolen treasures.

These efforts have borne substantial fruit and have the likely prospect of producing far more.  Multiple collections have been recovered, with several of Cambodia’s greatest masterpieces already in the process of being returned (the Ganesha, Skanda on the Peacock and Skanda and Shiva, among others).  Many more statutes are in various stages of investigation and negotiation.

Dr. Heimberg also has co-funded excavations of treasures newly discovered through these investigations, which have uncovered many clues to ancient Khmer history and culture.  The latest of these excavations have just this month uncovered numerous statues and incredible carvings on roof pediments from Prasat Krachap in Koh Ker.

Contact Information

Education

  • Law School, University of California, Los Angeles
  • Post-graduate Medical Training, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  • Doctor of Medicine, University of Missouri
  • Bachelor’s Degree, University of Tennessee

Noteworthy

Los Angeles injury lawyer Dr. Heimberg is nationally renowned for his legal expertise and advocacy, making him the most honored medical doctor practicing law in California. His peers from the legal community have bestowed many honors and tributes on Dr. Heimberg including the following:

  • BEST LAWYERS® – LAWYER OF THE YEAR 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2024 – Medical Malpractice Law
  • LOS ANGELES TRIAL LAWYER OF THE YEAR (Nominated 9 of last 20 years; can only accept once.)
  • Top 100 CALIFORNIA TRIAL LAWYER for 8 consecutive years.
  • TOP 100 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SUPER LAWYERS (7 consecutive years) (Super Lawyers Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine)
  • APPELLATE LAWYER OF THE YEAR, nominee (Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, 2004)
  • AV PREEMINENT – Highest Possible Rating in Both Legal Ability & Ethical Standards
  • 3,000 LEADING LAWYER IN AMERICA
  • TOP 500 LEADING LITIGATOR IN AMERICA
  • TOP 500 PLAINTIFFS’ ATTORNEYS IN AMERICA
  • THE NATIONAL TRIAL LAWYERS TOP 100
  • SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SUPER LAWYERS, PERSONAL INJURY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: PLAINTIFF, 2024

Dr. Heimberg is the only medical doctor to have received all of the honors listed above and the only medical doctor ever awarded Consumer Attorneys’ Los Angeles Trial Lawyer of the Year. There are other medical doctors that practice law, but few of them are experienced trial lawyers and only Dr. Heimberg has been so decorated by his peers in the legal community.

Professional Affiliations

Dr. Heimberg is an ardent advocate for consumer rights and is active in a variety of professional organizations, including:

  • Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, Governor emeritus, Board of Governors
  • Consumer Attorneys of California, Board of Governors
  • American Board of Trial Advocates, Member
  • Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
  • Medical Malpractice Committee, Consumer Attorneys of California, Co-chair
  • For years, Dr. Heimberg has been asked regularly to teach other attorneys across the state on many litigation and trial topics.

Bar/Professional Activities

Dr. Heimberg is an ardent advocate for consumer rights and is active in a variety of professional organizations, including:

  • Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, Governor Emeritus, Board of Governors
  • American Board of Trial Advocates, Member
  • Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
  • Medical Malpractice Committee. Consumer Attorneys of California, former co-chairperson
  • Diplomate, National Board of Medical Examiners
  • State Bar of California, 1987
  • State Bar Washington, D.C.. 1984
  • Consumer Attorneys of California, Board of Directors (inactive)
  • State Bar of Texas, 1994; State Bar of Arizona (both inactive)

Contact Information

Education

  • Law School, University of California, Los Angeles
  • Post-graduate Medical Training, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  • Doctor of Medicine, University of Missouri
  • Bachelor’s Degree, University of Tennessee

Noteworthy

Los Angeles injury lawyer Dr. Heimberg is nationally renowned for his legal expertise and advocacy, making him the most honored medical doctor practicing law in California. His peers from the legal community have bestowed many honors and tributes on Dr. Heimberg including the following:

  • BEST LAWYERS® – LAWYER OF THE YEAR 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2024 – Medical Malpractice Law
  • LOS ANGELES TRIAL LAWYER OF THE YEAR (Nominated 9 of last 20 years; can only accept once.)
  • Top 100 CALIFORNIA TRIAL LAWYER for 8 consecutive years.
  • TOP 100 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SUPER LAWYERS (7 consecutive years) (Super Lawyers Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine)
  • APPELLATE LAWYER OF THE YEAR, nominee (Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, 2004)
  • AV PREEMINENT – Highest Possible Rating in Both Legal Ability & Ethical Standards
  • 3,000 LEADING LAWYER IN AMERICA
  • TOP 500 LEADING LITIGATOR IN AMERICA
  • TOP 500 PLAINTIFFS’ ATTORNEYS IN AMERICA
  • THE NATIONAL TRIAL LAWYERS TOP 100
  • SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SUPER LAWYERS, PERSONAL INJURY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: PLAINTIFF, 2024

Dr. Heimberg is the only medical doctor to have received all of the honors listed above and the only medical doctor ever awarded Consumer Attorneys’ Los Angeles Trial Lawyer of the Year. There are other medical doctors that practice law, but few of them are experienced trial lawyers and only Dr. Heimberg has been so decorated by his peers in the legal community.

Professional Affiliations

Dr. Heimberg is an ardent advocate for consumer rights and is active in a variety of professional organizations, including:

  • Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, Governor emeritus, Board of Governors
  • Consumer Attorneys of California, Board of Governors
  • American Board of Trial Advocates, Member
  • Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
  • Medical Malpractice Committee, Consumer Attorneys of California, Co-chair
  • For years, Dr. Heimberg has been asked regularly to teach other attorneys across the state on many litigation and trial topics.
Steven Heimberg Photo of Steven Heimberg steve@stalwartlaw.com 310-954-2000 ext. 714 Jane's home page: Colleague:
Siannah Collado
Elizabeth Teixeira
Guillermo F. Barrantes
Evan A. Barr
Jon Schwalbach
Sean O’Neill
David Angeloff
Cindy Hickox
Patrick Jacobs
Dylan Ruga
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