Bio

Dan schaar

Dan is a trial lawyer who specializes in representing people in catastrophic injury and wrongful death matters. He only represents people. He does not represent corporations. He does not represent insurance companies. Raised in Rapid City, South Dakota, he left home and attended San Jose State University as a Division I soccer player.

After college, but before deciding to attend law school, Dan spent several years living and working on the island of Grand Cayman. During that time, he was a PADI Master SCUBA Instructor and also earned his USCG 50 Ton Master Captain’s License, logging over 5,000 SCUBA dives and over 4,500 hours at sea.

After returning stateside, he earned his JD from Santa Clara University, where he served as President of the Student Bar Association and was also a member of the school’s Trial Team, which was limited to ten members. During law school, Dan had the opportunity to intern with the Santa Clara County Office of the Public Defender. Taking on the challenge of representing real clients, real human beings, in a courtroom was a turning point for him, helping him realize his true purpose and calling in this profession.

With almost twenty years of courtroom experience, Dan’s results speak for themselves. He’s racked up numerous six-, seven-, and eight-figure verdicts and settlements. In his home county of Santa Cruz, California, of the five largest plaintiffs’ verdicts in the county’s history, Dan was lead trial counsel on three of them, including one of the largest verdicts in California history for an injured bicyclist ($6.7 million). Dan’s practice extends beyond the Santa Cruz area. In 2024, he was part of a trial team that secured a massive $15 million verdict in Dallas, Texas, for an undocumented worker who suffered third-degree burns over 40% of his body. He was also trial counsel on an $18.5 million settlement for a nursing home abuse survivor in California. Dan always takes a personalized, empathetic approach to each of his clients; he gets to know their stories personally, which helps him convey their losses in court and pursue the justice they deserve.

Dan thrives on a challenge. He’s often sought out for consultations on personal injury cases across the country, known for turning “unwinnable” cases into success stories. He travels the country with Nick and Courtney Rowley as an instructor with Trial By Human.

A huge advocate of maintaining a proper work-life balance so he can provide the best representation for his clients, Dan loves spending time outdoors in the Santa Cruz area with his wife and kids when he’s not at work. You’ll often find him in the water with his kids surfing or out riding bikes during the summer months, and up in the mountains snowboarding and skiing during the winter.