About
Daniel McGee is a founding partner of McGee Lerer Ogrin and one of California's most accomplished personal injury trial attorneys. During his 16-year tenure at one of California's premier personal injury firms, he was part of the legal team that obtained what was, at the time, the largest verdict in United States history against a police department — a judgment exceeding $25 million. The firm's total verdicts and settlements during his tenure surpassed $100 million. In 2001, he co-founded McGee Lerer Ogrin with his wife, Catherine Lerer, and has led the firm for more than 24 years.
Results
Daniel McGee has achieved substantial verdicts and settlements across a wide range of personal injury practice areas. His results include a $3.3 million verdict in a products liability case in Rancho Cucamonga and multi-million dollar outcomes in spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, toxic tort, and automotive products liability cases. He has successfully resolved hundreds of personal injury cases and, when insurers refuse to pay fair value, has consistently taken cases to trial and obtained verdicts. He is licensed to practice in both California state courts and federal courts — a distinction that matters in cases involving government defendants, multi-state parties, or federal jurisdiction.
16 Years at California's Leading Personal Injury Firm
Before co-founding McGee Lerer Ogrin, Daniel McGee spent 16 years at one of California's most respected personal injury law firms, rising from associate attorney to partner and eventually serving as firm manager — a role that required not only legal excellence but the operational leadership to run a high-volume litigation practice. During that period, he was deeply involved in product liability cases against major automobile manufacturers, multi-party toxic tort litigation, and complex catastrophic injury cases involving spinal cord damage and traumatic brain injury. The firm's results during his tenure included more than $100 million in verdicts and settlements and the landmark $25 million-plus police department verdict.
That 16-year foundation — combined with more than two decades leading his own firm — gives Daniel McGee a depth of litigation experience that spans every phase of complex personal injury practice: pre-litigation investigation and evidence preservation, expert retention and preparation, multi-party discovery, trial strategy, and post-verdict enforcement.
How Daniel McGee Approaches Cases
Daniel McGee built his practice on a simple principle: every client deserves to know exactly where their case stands, what their options are, and what to expect at every step. He and his co-founding partner, Catherine Lerer, personally handle client communications — including evenings, weekends, and when a client calls from an emergency room on a Sunday morning. That accessibility is not a marketing claim; it is a practice standard that has defined the firm since its founding in 2001.
On strategy, Daniel McGee is a litigator first. He approaches every case from the standpoint of what it will take to win at trial, which is the posture that produces maximum settlements when cases resolve before verdict. When an insurer refuses to pay fair value, he takes the case to the courtroom. His background in products liability — an area requiring extensive expert preparation, technical evidence, and the ability to effectively cross-examine corporate witnesses — has sharpened a trial skill set that applies across all personal injury practice areas.
Recognition and Professional Memberships
Daniel McGee has been a featured speaker at the Consumer Attorneys of California annual Las Vegas convention — a platform reserved for attorneys recognized by the plaintiff's bar for legal excellence and contribution to the profession. He is a member of the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC), the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), and the American Association for Justice (AAJ). He received his B.S. from the University of Southern California and his J.D. from Whittier College School of Law.
