Dawn Leigh Hassell

Dawn is a highly experienced litigator and trial lawyer with extensive knowledge and skill in litigating personal injury and wrongful death cases. She has over 20 years of experience successfully resolving personal injury claims in her client’s favor.

Dawn founded The Hassell Law Group in 1999 and has practiced personal injury law in California for the past 21 years. She holds an undefeated record at trial and in arbitration on behalf of her clients. She served as a distinguished Member of the Board of Directors of The San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association from 2002-2012.

Dawn has used her extensive negotiation and litigation experience to successfully advocate for many seriously injured clients and families of those killed in wrongful death accidents. Her results include a $4,677,244 court judgment for a seriously injured motorcyclist; a $4,600,000 settlement for a Bay Area pain management doctor who tripped and fell on a dangerous condition sustaining an impalement injury of the dominant hand; a $2,525,000 settlement for two pedestrians struck by a loose trailer pulled by an agricultural truck.

Dawn is a fearless and relentless advocate for her clients. She has expert knowledge of personal injury law and civil litigation strategy. She combines this with a high level of business acumen to obtain excellent results in her cases. Dawn works closely with some of the foremost experts in the nation to build clear and compelling personal injury cases on behalf of the firm’s clients.

Dawn is a seven-time Super Lawyer® having been named a Super Lawyer® from 2014-2020. Super Lawyer® is a rating bestowed on the top 5% of outstanding lawyers in their practice area who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

In 2020, Dawn was named to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100. The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 is an invitation-only organization composed of premier trial lawyers from each state who meet stringent qualifications as civil plaintiff trial lawyers. Membership is extended only to a select few of the most qualified attorneys who demonstrate superior qualifications of leadership, reputation, influence, stature, and public profile.

Dawn is a member of Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, The Top Trial Lawyers in America®, one of the most highly prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the country with membership limited exclusively to lawyers with court judgments and case results exceeding $2 Million dollars. This esteemed distinction is held by less than 1% of attorneys in the entire United States.

Dawn’s high-caliber legal skill, tenacity, and exceptional negotiation skills have won her extremely high praise and gratitude over the years from the firm’s many clients. She has a superb 10 rating on the legal website Avvo, and countless 5-star ratings on review site Yelp and Google Reviews.

Dawn has recently been recognized with additional professional awards and honors. Expert ranking site ranked Dawn as one of The Best Personal Injury Attorneys in San Francisco and also as one of The Best Car Accident Attorneys in San Francisco. Additionally, Attorney and Practice Magazine named Dawn a Top 10 Personal Injury Attorney. Less than 1% of attorneys nationwide receive an invitation for membership.

Year after year San Francisco Magazine has named Dawn on their annual list of the “Top Women Attorneys in Northern California” (2014-2020).

Dawn earned her undergraduate degree in Politics, Philosophy and Law from Binghamton University in New York (SUNY), where she graduated in the top 1% of her class, Summa Cum Laude (the highest academic distinction). Dawn is a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society (the oldest and most prestigious academic honor society in the United States inducting the most outstanding students at American colleges and universities). Dawn earned her law degree (J.D.) from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. She was admitted to practice law in California in 1998.

Dawn is a sustaining member of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (a bicycle safety advocacy group), and WalkSF (a pedestrian advocacy organization making streets safer for pedestrians). Dawn has passionately represented a substantial number of pedestrians and bicyclists injured in accidents.

In her spare time, Dawn enjoys spending time with her adorable dog Emmett.