Daniel J. Mckenzie

About

Dan has been a civil litigator for over 17 years, with extensive experience handling various types of personal injury, construction, business, and other complex litigation. Dan handles all facets of these disputes, from pre-litigation consultation and strategizing, to percipient and expert discovery, as well as trial and post-trial motions. He also handles various transactional and contract matters. His extensive litigation experience helps him identify problems with a client’s potential agreement and address them before the client enters the agreement in the first place.

In addition to the last 15+ years primarily working on the defense side, he began his career doing plaintiff’s-side personal injury litigation. This experience helps him understand the inner workings of the plaintiff’s bar and their internal considerations and strategic decisions. He uses this information to analyze each case and develop an optimal defense strategy as the facts of the case and other procedural issues dictate.

Dan prides himself on working with his clients to understand their goals, and preparing a realistic plan to achieve them. This process includes an honest assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of each client’s case, and the risks, rewards, and likely costs of the client’s various options. He then works tirelessly to execute the plan.

Representative Matters

• Personal Injury Defense (Defense Verdict) – Kern County (Bakersfield) construction site injury case arising from trench collapse. Plaintiff sued Defendants (our clients), who were performing excavation operations at the site. Plaintiff’s injuries included a shattered pelvis and severed urethra. Plaintiff’s last settlement demand was $15 million. Defendants (our clients) offered Plaintiff $1.5 million prior to trial. After a jury trial lasting over two weeks, the jury returned a total defense verdict after less than 2.5 hours of deliberations, finding our clients not negligent. Defendants subsequently obtained a judgment against Plaintiff in excess of $200,000 due to Plaintiff’s failure to best Defendants’ pre-trial offer.
• Business Litigation – Orange County business litigation case involving a failed joint restaurant venture. Prior to trial, Defendant (our client) offered Plaintiff $30,000. Plaintiff demanded $150,000. After a two-week trial, the jury awarded our client with a net award of $1,500. Because Plaintiff failed to best our client’s pre-trial offer, Defendant was also awarded approximately $230,000 in attorneys’ fees after trial.
• Nuisance Defense – Orange County nuisance case brought by Plaintiff, a high-end automobile customization shop, against Defendant (our client), a large well-known builder, for alleged nuisance in connection with the construction of an apartment complex with over 150 units. Plaintiff’s last demand was $800,000. Our client offered $50,000 prior to trial. After two weeks of trial, Plaintiff was awarded a verdict of approximately $37,000. Because Plaintiff failed to best the $50,000 offer, rather than risk receiving nothing, Plaintiff agreed to settle the matter for $5,000.
• Premises Liability (Motion for Summary Judgment) – Los Angeles County case involving Instacart shopper who tripped and fell over a shopping cart in a large well-known retail establishment. Plaintiff sued Defendant retailer (our client) for negligence and premises liability, claiming damages in excess of $1 million. We filed a MSJ on the basis that the cart did not constitute a dangerous condition, and was open and obvious. The MSJ was granted, resulting in dismissal of the action.
• Construction Defect (Defense Side) – Los Angeles County construction defect case. Plaintiffs, owners of single-family custom home, sued Defendants (our clients), who were the architect and general contractor for a major renovation project. After years of litigation, approximately 3 months before trial, Defendants offered $3.5 million to Plaintiffs and offered to walk away from Defendants’ own claims against Plaintiffs arising from Plaintiffs’ failure to pay for work previously performed. Plaintiffs rejected the offer. The parties proceeded to trial, and right before jury selection was about to begin, Plaintiffs agreed to a settlement which paid them only $1 million, and paid Defendants $500,000.
• Construction Defect (Plaintiff’s Side) – Commercial construction defect case involving Ventura County retail center. Settlements with contractors and design professionals totaled in excess of $6 million.
• Personal Injury (Plaintiff’s Side) – Conducted the research regarding the little known Drug Dealer Liability Act which led to $1 million settlement with adult entertainment establishment whose contractor employees sold drugs and overserved alcohol to a customer. That customer later hit another driver while under the influence, causing a brain injury.