Our Latest Featured Speaker is Dan Lawton!

Our latest Featured Speaker is Dan Lawton of Klinedinst PC!

Dan is speaking at our 21st Annual Superior Court Boot Camp: The Nuts and Bolts (CA), on October 6 and 8, 2026!

This two-part webinar has set the standard in litigation training in CA for more than two decades and walks through most every phase of a case, from the first pleading through pre-trial motions, with insight from judges and attorneys on both sides of the aisle. Hon. Kira L. Klatchko, Retired, and now in ADR at JAMS, adds her two cents throughout Part 1, and Hon. Laura A. Seigle does the same throughout Part 2.

Dan is teaching “Preparing for Trial: Pretrial Conferences, Trial Briefs, Motions in Limine, and Final Preparation” on October 8. It is the final session of the program and covers pretrial conference and order, trial briefs, pretrial statement, motions in limine, final status conference, and trier of fact decisions.

Past attendees have called the program a very helpful overview of the anatomy of a case through trial, and have singled out its tips on the trial prep timeline and motions in limine.

Whether you’re handling your first case or need a refresher, you’ll leave this program with actionable strategies, renewed confidence, and a stronger command of California civil procedure in state court.

Click here for full details and registration.

Dan is a frequent speaker at our appellate related seminars, and has spoken at our Advanced Appellate Practice program for the past three years in a row. He will be speaking at our 2027 program as well.

Throughout his career in private practice, Dan has focused on civil trial work and complex commercial and intellectual property litigation on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants. He also has a deep background in civil appeals, and is certified as a legal specialist in Appellate Law by the State Bar’s California Board of Legal Specialization. The certification is a distinction held by only 36 lawyers in San Diego County. His first job out of law school was a clerkship with Ninth Circuit Judge Thomas Tang.

Dan regularly counsels both corporate and individual clients in a variety of settings, often in negotiations and sometimes in transactions. His corporate clients have included companies whose stock is publicly-traded and companies whose stock is closely-held. They have included life sciences companies, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers and distributors of various products, landowners and property developers, large corporations, a local major league baseball franchise, automobile dealerships, and “mom-and-pop” businesses. His individual clients have included officers, directors, and shareholders (both majority and minority) of corporations, bankers, elected officials, politicians, professional athletes and coaches, attorneys, accountants, land owners, entrepreneurs, and entertainers.

Dan has tried multiple jury trials, bench trials, and arbitrations, and litigated many cases to disposition short of trial (by way of motions to dismiss and for summary judgment). Dan has obtained settlements and judgments in his clients’ favor totaling tens of millions of dollars, and obtained what is believed to be the third-largest jury verdict in the legal history of Imperial County (for $14,286,461, after a nine-week jury trial). Over the span of more than 30 years, his caseload has included cases involving patent infringement, copyright infringement, trade secret theft, unfair competition, defamation, and business torts (such as trade libel and intentional interference with contractual relations). Dan has handled civil appeals and writs in both the California and federal courts. Dan has successfully litigated cases against some of the largest law firms and government agencies in the State of California.

In January 2009, Dan learned of his nomination for inclusion in 2009 San Diego Super Lawyers based on anonymous peer evaluation. He was also honored again in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 in the primary practice area of intellectual property litigation. Nominations for SuperLawyer designation are peer-driven, and fewer than 5% of lawyers in California earn the distinction. In 1997, two years after opening his own practice, Dan was “AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated” by Martindale-Hubbell.

Dan has been a team leader in the J. Clifford Wallace Chapter of the American Inns of Court since 2015. In that role, he has been responsible for putting on mandatory continuing legal education programs for the Inn, a group whose membership consists of lawyers and Judges and is by invitation only. In September 2015, Dan won an award for Best Program via anonymous peer vote for a short documentary he produced entitled “Avoiding Deathbed Regrets and Having Work/Life Balance.” The documentary combined excerpts of interviews with 25 local lawyers and Judges with data concerning work/life balance for attorneys and jurists.

Active within the legal and business community, Dan has participated in numerous charitable and pro bono programs. Dan has earned multiple Wiley W. Manuel awards for community service from the State Bar of California for pro bono work on behalf of indigent refugees fleeing persecution and seeking asylum in the United States. The San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program awarded Dan its Distinguished Service Award in three separate years for his pro bono work on behalf of refugees.

We are so excited to have you, Dan!