Daniel Dell’osso
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Practice Areas:
- Auto Defects and Crashworthiness
- Aviation
- Product Liability
Biography
Dan is a native of Oakland, California and a graduate of Bishop O'Dowd High School. Dan attended Virginia Military Institute, graduating with honors in 1975 and was selected as a Rhodes Scholar nominee from the state of Virginia. After graduating from VMI, Dan was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the United States Marine Corps where he was selected for flight school. Dan spent six years on active duty as a fighter pilot and continued to serve as a pilot with the Marine Corps Reserve. Dan rose to the rank of Lt. Col. and was the commanding officer in the Marine A-4 squadron in Alameda, California before retiring with 22 years of service.
Dan received his law degree from Golden Gate University in 1984 and entered practice with the Walkup law firm in San Francisco eventually focusing his practice in the areas of aviation and product liability with special emphasis in the area of automobile crashworthiness. Dan left his partnership at the Walkup Firm in 2000 in order to limit his practice entirely to automobile crashworthiness and joined the firm of Coben and Associates in Arizona, where he worked until his return to the Bay Area, joining the Brandi Firm in 2005.
Dan is licensed to practice law in California, Nevada, and Arizona, and currently represents families in auto defect cases in all three jurisdictions. In addition he is a graduate of the Naval Post Graduate School's Aviation Accident Investigation and Safety school, which coupled with his over twenty years of flying experience, provides significant insight in representing people in aviation accidents.
Dan has been involved in the preparation and/or trial of automobile crashworthiness cases against most of the major automobile manufacturers including Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, KIA, Nissan, General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Volvo and Mazda. He has tried automobile defect and crashworthiness cases in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania and participated in crashworthiness cases in New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Hawaii and Maine. Dan's cases include defects in rollovers, vehicle stability, defective tires, seat failures, seat belt failures, airbag systems, child restraints, occupant restraint failures, roof crush, defective roofs, door latch failures, and side structures.
Dan was elected by his peers to the Arizona chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, (ABOTA). He is a past chair of the American Association for Justice (now AAJ) products liability section. Dan is also a member of the Consumer Attorneys of California, and the American Association for Justice, (aviation and Product liability sections). Dan serves on the board of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association.
He is widely published in the area of auto defects including a book chapter on the topic of automobile crashworthiness and numerous articles in a number of legal periodicals dealing with a variety of legal and engineering issues in the areas of aviation and automobile products.
Dan and his wife live in the East Bay where Dan pursues his avocation of distance running, having completed numerous marathons including seven successful entries in the Boston Marathon.
Education
- Golden Gate University School of Law, San Francisco, California
- 1984
- Virginia Military Institute
- 1975
- Honors: With Honors
- Honors: Rhodes Scholar Nominee from the State of Virginia
- Bishop O’Dowd High School
Bar Admission
- California
- Nevada
- Arizona
Past Positions
- United States Marine Corps, 2nd Lt.
- Walkup Law Firm, 2000
- Coben and Associates in Arizona
Professional Associations
- American Board of Trial Advocates, (ABOTA), Arizona Chapter
- American Association for Justice
- Consumer Attorneys of California, Member
- American Association for Justice, Aviation and Product Liability Sections, Member
- San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, Board Member
Honors
- Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year Product Liability Plaintiff, 2017, 2021
- Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell.
Representative Cases
- Pedestrian v. Driver, State of California
- Passenger v. Ford Motor Company
Published Works
- Do Auto Products Liability Claims Have Life After Bankruptcy?