Intro
Dan is a trial lawyer whose practice focuses on trust, probate and complex civil cases involving families. He also serves as a mediator and arbitrator of trust, probate and complex family civil disputes. Dan has been named in multiple years as a Super Lawyer by his peers for Northern California in the area of Trust and Estate Litigation. He is one of a handful of practitioners who is included in both the Sacramento Superior Court’s list of Pro-Tem Settlement Conference judges and its list of approved mediators qualified to mediate trust and estate disputes pending in Sacramento Superior Court. Dan is honored to have been named as a statewide mediation and private neutral panelist for Judicate West, a professional neutral company with offices throughout California, to handle their trust, estate, financial elder abuse and contested conservatorship matters throughout California.
He is a member of the California Lawyer’s Association’s (CLA) Trust and Estates Section and Litigation Section, as well as the Sacramento County Bar Association’s Probate, Trust and Estate Planning Section. Dan has recently been selected to serve on the Executive Committee for CLA’s Trust and Estate Section (TEXCOM), for which he participates on various subcommittees, including the Litigation, Incapacity and Legislation subcommittees. Dan also serves as a Judge Pro-Tem in the Sacramento Superior Court and has been named as an expert witness on issues relating to trust, probate and litigation matters. Dan has lectured at U.C. Davis, before the Sacramento County Bar Association, CCLSA and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants on the topics of civil litigation and trust and probate litigation.
Dan has served on numerous non-profit boards throughout Sacramento, including as Chair of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Sacramento, board member of the San Juan Unified School District Superintendent’s Advisory Board, board member of the St. Ignatius School Advisory Board, board member of the Anthony M. Kennedy Learning Center, and Chairman of the Board of Del Paso Country Club. Dan served as General Chairman of the 2015 United States Senior Open Golf Championship, the single largest sporting event in Sacramento’s history.
Areas of Focus
Education
Admissions and Courts
Role
Family Wealth Resolution and Disputes Practice Leader
California Lawyer's Association's Trust and Estates Section, Chair of the Trust and Administration Subcommittee for the Trusts and Estates Executive Committee (2025)
Sacramento Federal Judicial Library and Learning Center Foundation, Board of Directors
California Lawyer’s Association’s Trust and Estates Section and Litigation Section
Sacramento County Bar Association’s Probate, Trust and Estate Planning Section
The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Sacramento, Chair
San Juan Unified School District Superintendent’s, Advisory Board
St. Ignatius School, Advisory Board
Anthony M. Kennedy Learning Center
Del Paso Country Club, Chairman of the Board
United States Senior Open Golf Championship (2015), General Chairman
"Trust And Estate Litigators Join Hanson Bridgett In Calif.," Law360 (March 2023)
Certified Mediator
Super Lawyers, Estate & Trust Litigation; Alternative Dispute Resolution (2010, 2016-2023)
Sacramento Business Journal Best of the Bar (2019)
Sacramento Magazine Top Lawyers (2019)
Best Lawyers (2025)
“Guide to the California Rules of Professional Conduct for Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Counsel,” Fourth Edition, 2020, Thomas Shaver, Editor
"The New CCP 664.6 and its Significant Impact on Settlement Practices,” panelist, Hon. Judge Patricia Schnegg, Ret. and Douglas DeVries, Esq. (September 2021)
“Best (and Latest) Practices in Trust and Estate/Elder Financial Abuse Mediations,” panelist, Alameda County Bar Association (July 2021)
“Nuts and Bolts of Litigating a Civil Financial Elder Abuse Claim,” CLA’s Elder Abuse Symposium (May 2021)
“Creating Enforceable Settlement Agreements,” panelist, Sacramento County Bar Association (May 2021)
“Best Practices of Mediating a Trust, Estate and Civil Financial Elder Abuse Case,” panelist, Hon. Judge David Cowan, Nicholas Van Brunt, Esq. Ciaran O’Sullivan, Esq. and Erin Norcia, Esq. (April 2021)
“Deposition Basics in Trust and Estate Litigation,” Litigation Bootcamp in Trust and Estate Litigation, Sacramento County Bar Association (April 2019)
“Fundamentals of Discovery Practices in Trust and Estate Litigation,” Sacramento County Bar Association (June 2018)