More Than $2 Billion Won for Clients
EATON FIRE – JANUARY 2025 | 9,000+ buildings destroyed | 19 lives lost | Suit filed within weeks of ignition | Limited window to retain counsel
For more than three decades, Danko Meredith lawyers have helped people catastrophically injured — and families who have lost loved ones — due to the negligence of others. We are plaintiffs’ trial lawyers: we never represent corporations, insurance companies, or defendants. We take cases on contingency, meaning there are no fees or costs unless we win.
Mike Danko is an active jet and helicopter pilot with nearly 5,000 flight hours. We have litigated aviation accident cases throughout the United States and abroad for more than 30 years — from major airline disasters to general aviation and helicopter crashes.
Since 2015, we have represented thousands of survivors of utility-caused wildfires and disasters — including the Butte Fire, North Bay fires, Camp Fire, Dixie Fire, and the Eaton Fire — and have been part of litigation efforts that recovered billions of dollars for survivors. We are one of a small number of firms willing to take a utility company all the way to a jury verdict.
Our attorneys are in Bay Area and California courtrooms handling the cases that define the firm’s everyday work.
See examples below ↓
Claims for Turbulence Determined by International Treaty
Seattle Times Asks Danko About Holding Utilities Accountable
Danko: CPUC Seeks Greater Oversight of PG&E’s Wildfire Safety Practices
Danko Explains That Utility Execs Will Avoid Jail Even After Guilty Verdict
Airplane Mode In life and law, Mike Danko is all in on flight
Being an aviation trial lawyer requires more than legal knowledge — it requires understanding how aircraft actually fail, how investigations are conducted, and how to defeat the narratives that manufacturers and insurers construct in their defense. Two examples of what that looks like in practice:
A passenger catastrophically injured when an engine came apart in flight. When a Beech Bonanza’s Continental IO-550 engine failed in cruise flight and forced an emergency landing, the NTSB investigation cleared the engine manufacturer and blamed the mechanic who had last worked on the aircraft. Danko Meredith took a different view. We investigated the engine’s design and maintenance history and built a case against Teledyne Continental Motors — the manufacturer the NTSB had exonerated. The jury agreed with our analysis as presented by our experts, not the NTSB’s, and returned a verdict of $15 million for our client, who had suffered a severe brain injury in the crash landing. The verdict earned a Trial Lawyer of the Year nomination from the Consumer Attorneys of California. (Burdett v. Teledyne Continental Motors)
A pilot killed when a helicopter flew into power lines. When a Piasecki helicopter struck high-tension wires near Adelanto, California and crashed, killing all three aboard, the defense had a ready argument: forensic evidence, they claimed, showed that our client’s husband — not the other pilot — was at the controls at the time of the accident. The other pilot’s estate also argued that the city of Los Angeles should have installed warning markers on the lines. We proved that the other pilot, a flight instructor with more than 12,000 hours of experience, had trained his own students never to fly between electrical towers — yet on the day of the accident, he did exactly that. The jury found that he, not our client’s husband, was the pilot in command when the helicopter struck the wires. Our client received a $10 million verdict. (Goble v. Estate of Pike)
A passenger catastrophically injured when an engine came apart in flight. When a Beech Bonanza’s Continental IO-550 engine failed in cruise flight and forced an emergency landing, the NTSB investigation cleared the engine manufacturer and blamed the mechanic who had last worked on the aircraft. Danko Meredith took a different view. We investigated the engine’s design and maintenance history and built a case against Teledyne Continental Motors — the manufacturer the NTSB had exonerated. The jury agreed with our analysis as presented by our experts, not the NTSB’s, and returned a verdict of $15 million for our client, who had suffered a severe brain injury in the crash landing. The verdict earned a Trial Lawyer of the Year nomination from the Consumer Attorneys of California.
When a Piasecki helicopter struck high-tension wires near Adelanto, California and crashed, killing all three aboard, the defense had a ready argument: forensic evidence, they claimed, showed that our client’s husband — not the other pilot — was at the controls at the time of the accident. The other pilot’s estate also argued that the city of Los Angeles should have installed warning markers on the lines. We proved that the other pilot, a flight instructor with more than 12,000 hours of experience, had trained his own students never to fly between electrical towers — yet on the day of the accident, he did exactly that. The jury found that he, not our client’s husband, was the pilot in command when the helicopter struck the wires. Our client received a $10 million verdict.
Danko Meredith’s attorneys are in courtrooms handling the cases that define this firm’s everyday work – serious injuries and wrongful deaths caused by dangerous products, dangerous roads, corporate negligence, and other parties unwilling to take responsibility. Though they may receive less public attention than major wildfires or air disasters, we devote the same investigative resources, leading expert witnesses, and trial readiness to every case.
When 62-year-old Chris Chandler was struck and killed while walking his bicycle across a state highway, police investigated the death as a possible suicide and blamed Chandler for riding into traffic. We found witnesses who confirmed Chandler was walking his bike, not riding it, and uncovered the state’s own internal records showing the crosswalk had a known visibility hazard the state had declined to fix. A jury agreed, finding Chandler free of any fault and awarding his family $9.5 million — more than ninety times the state’s pre-trial settlement offer. The court of appeal affirmed the verdict, crediting the testimony of our expert in road safety. Not long after, the state installed pedestrian hybrid beacons — known as HAWK signals — at crosswalks along the same stretch of El Camino Real, giving pedestrians a controlled, attention-getting crossing the existing crosswalk had lacked. (Chandler v. State of California)
When two-year-old Jeffrey choked on a candy containing a plant-based gel additive, his father could not dislodge it from his throat. We retained Dr. Henry Heimlich, who testified that not even his famous maneuver would have worked. Laboratory testing and internal company documents revealed the manufacturer knew the candy posed a choking hazard to young children and marketed it to them anyway. A judge awarded Jeffrey’s parents $50 million, calling it exactly the type of case punitive damages were designed for — and the FDA subsequently banned the import of the candy’s key ingredient. (Jing v. Sheng Hsiang Jen, et al.)
An underground electrical vault exploded beneath a Bay Area sidewalk, throwing a manhole cover and severely burning a woman on her lunch break. Rather than waiting years for a government investigation, our team independently identified former utility employees who helped establish the cause of the explosion within months. The utility settled for $20 million two days after seeing our trial presentation.
When a prominent Silicon Valley developer reneged on funding a $750,000 land deal — after secretly planning to buy the property himself — we proved at trial that his limited liability company didn’t shield him from personal liability for the fraud. The result: a $10 million judgment. (Denevi v. Swenson, et al.)
When a tire’s tread separated and caused a fatal rollover, the manufacturer claimed the driver had simply left the tire under-inflated. We proved the tire was actually 14 years old and that the manufacturer had known for years that tires become dangerous after six years regardless of mileage — but kept selling aged inventory rather than absorb the loss. The resulting settlement, reached days before trial, prompted an industry-wide shift in how tire manufacturers warn consumers about tire age. (Crane v. Firestone, et al.)
Danko Meredith is often called upon to handle catastrophic injury cases outside California. And when we take on those cases, we’ve obtained significant result – including a $2.2 million judgment for a cyclist who suffered a traumatic brain injury after striking a defectively placed road hazard in Hawaii, and a $5 million settlement for a university researcher injured in a laboratory explosion.
Traumatic brain injury
Judgement · Hawaii
Laboratory explosion
Settlement · Hawaii
Many attorneys are excellent counselors and negotiators. But when a case involves catastrophic injuries, wrongful death, an aviation disaster, a utility wildfire, or other high-stakes litigation requiring significant financial investment and genuine trial experience, they bring in Danko Meredith.
When attorneys refer clients to us, they are entrusting us with both their clients and their own professional reputations. We bring the same level of preparation and advocacy to every referred case that we bring to cases that come directly through our door. Danko Meredith welcomes co-counsel arrangements and attorney referrals.
Serious cases demand more than legal knowledge. They require expert witnesses with the credentials and courtroom presence to withstand cross-examination from well-funded defense teams — and whose conclusions a jury will trust over the defense’s hired guns.
Danko Meredith works with leading technical experts across aviation, wildfire, utility, and catastrophic injury cases to establish causation, challenge official findings, and reconstruct complex incidents. Their work has helped prove aircraft defects over pilot error, identify utility failures behind major wildfires resulting in more than $1.5 billion in recoveries, and uncover critical forensic evidence in catastrophic injury cases, including the $50 million Jing case.
Serious cases demand more than legal knowledge. They require expert witnesses with the credentials and courtroom presence to withstand cross-examination from well-funded defense teams — and whose conclusions a jury will trust over the defense’s hired guns.
In aviation cases, our experts have included aircraft accident reconstruction specialists, engine failure analysts, and human factors engineers whose testimony has helped us defeat NTSB findings that cleared manufacturers, establish which pilot was in command at the moment of impact, and prove that component defects — not pilot error — caused crashes. In wildfire and utility cases, we have worked with fire origin and causation experts, electrical engineers specializing in transmission line failure, vegetation management specialists, and regulatory experts in CPUC standards and utility operating practices — the technical foundation behind more than $1.5 billion in wildfire recoveries. In catastrophic injury cases, our experts have reconstructed accidents from physical evidence as subtle as fabric fibers left in pavement, established that a tire’s age rather than a driver’s behavior caused a fatal separation, and — as in our $50 million Jing case — provided testimony so definitive that a judge imposed punitive damages before the case ever got to a jury.
Those relationships, and the credibility those experts bring to every case we try, are an important part of what Danko Meredith offers every client.
Wildfire Recoveries
Jing Case Result
These long-standing expert relationships are a key competitive advantage and a major reason other attorneys refer complex cases to the firm.
“There are amazing lawyers out there—but none can compare to you guys. You are the whole package.”
– Wrongful Death Client
Danko Meredith represents ordinary people injured due to the fault of others. Our Bay Area personal injury attorneys take on large corporations who, by choosing profits over safety, cause our clients burn, spinal cord, orthopedic, or brain injuries. Many of our clients turn to us after having lost family members or loved ones.
Those who caused our client’s harm are typically powerful and well-financed, with the resources to hire an army of lawyers to oppose us. We’re used to being out-numbered, but we’re never out-lawyered.
Known for our success in trial and favorable settlements, we are thorough in our investigations, from witness testimonies to document reviews. Recognized as one of the top law firms in the nation, with leading attorneys in California, we’ve earned the trust of peers and judges. We provide compassionate support to our clients throughout their legal journey, helping them hold accountable those responsible and prevent future injustices.
Most clients prefer to settle disputes confidentially, outside of court. However, the fastest way to secure a fair out-of-court settlement is by hiring a lawyer with a strong trial reputation. Lawyers without trial experience are often not taken seriously by corporations or insurance companies. By hiring a trial lawyer from the start, you keep your options open to settle or go to trial without needing to change attorneys.
Learn more about us on our About page. Read answers to commonly asked questions about personal injury cases on our FAQ page.
Contact us today by filling out the free consultation form below or just call us and speak to an experienced Bay Area personal injury attorney at (650) 453-3600. People say we’re easy to talk to. Tell us about your situation and find out how we can help.
At Danko Law, we pride ourselves on delivering exceptional legal services tailored to meet the unique needs of each client. Our commitment to justice, personalized approach, and dedication to achieving favorable outcomes have earned us the trust and gratitude of those we've had the privilege to represent. Here’s what our clients have to say about their experiences working with us.
I had so many invaluable tips from Mike. Simply put: a straight to the point, knowledgeable, and helpful lawyer. If you need guidance on how to defend yourself from the unjust and harmful actions of an airline, put in the work on your end and then... Learn More
- Trevor Ding-Jun Kwong
Danko Meredith performed above my expectations and managed attain for me a much-needed monetary win from PG&E for the devastating 2017 Napa fire , when I lost everything.... Learn More
- Marie Gravelle
Mike Danko and his team delivered incredible results far exceeding my highest expectations. Highly recommended!... Learn More
- Neal Bordenave
They are very professional and engaged. They never stopped trying to get us the best possible settlement and fought for us at every turn.... Learn More
- Kim Huntley
Words cannot express our gratefulness for Danko Meredith. I will never forget, from day one, Mike took the time to fully explain the process. Shawn was efficient, knowledgeable, and genuinely compassionate and kind in understanding our loss. I was... Learn More
- Jill Slater
I and my family are represented by Danko Meredith, Trial Lawyers in the litigation process attempting to get PG&E to pay for the damages they caused on November 11, 2018. I believe we have the best representation available in this process. The... Learn More
- Mark Warner
*The listed publications and organizations have different criteria for selection, inclusion, and recognition. Please visit each publication or organization for more information.
