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Prominent California Plaintiffs' Attorneys Terry O'Reilly and Mike Danko are Ending Their 14-Year Partnership: Each Will Have His Own Firm

Posted on: Thursday, 19 March 2009, 15:17 CDT

SAN MATEO, Calif., March 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Terry O'Reilly and Mike Danko, well-known California plaintiffs' attorneys, have announced that they are ending a 14-year partnership on April 1. Terry O'Reilly will continue his firm under the name the O'Reilly Law Firm, and Mike Danko is establishing the Danko Law Firm. Danko will continue to focus on aviation cases, cases involving catastrophic injury and business torts. O'Reilly will continue in all phases of trial practice.

In the past year, each attorney won a substantial jury verdict for his client. O'Reilly won a $24.9 million verdict in September, 2008, for a client who became paralyzed when his car was struck by a speeding American Medical Response ambulance. Danko won a $15 million jury verdict in October, 2008, for a passenger severely injured in a single-engine plane crash.

The recent awards are only two of a number of eight-figure trial awards earned by the O'Reilly & Danko firm during the years in which the two attorneys have had a joint practice. O'Reilly & Danko have successfully tried many multi-million dollar cases that have gained substantial media attention because of the complex and often precedent-setting nature of the cases and the favorable results for clients.

"Terry O'Reilly and I have slain many dragons together," says Mike Danko. "I have the highest respect for Terry. He is an outstanding legal talent. However, as time has passed, our practices have grown separate. That's not surprising, because most plaintiffs' attorneys are independent, self-reliant types who eventually run their own show. I wish Terry all the best and I look forward to this new chapter in my law practice."

"Mike has made a sensible choice at this stage in his career," comments O'Reilly. "I wish him every success."

Terry O'Reilly received his law degree from Boalt Hall, University of California at Berkeley. He practiced for 17 years with the late Bruce Walkup, and then started his own firm in 1987. In 1999, he was elected to the Inner Circle of Advocates, whose membership is limited to the 100 best attorneys in the country. In 2003, the Consumer Attorneys of California honored O'Reilly as Trial Lawyer of the Year. Recently, he was elected president of the Western Trial Lawyers Association.

Mike Danko is a graduate of Dartmouth College, magna cum laude, and of the University of Virginia Law School. Before joining O'Reilly, he practiced with an internationally known Wall Street-based law firm where he specialized in complex business litigation.

Both attorneys have been named Northern California SuperLawyers. Danko is also an instrument-rated pilot with more than 2500 hours of experience flying airplanes and helicopters.

SOURCE O'Reilly & Danko

Source: PR Newswire

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