Daniel Petrocelli is the Chair of O’Melveny’s Trial Practice and a Vice Chair of the firm. Dan has a national trial practice counseling and representing clients in major litigation in a wide variety of areas, including antitrust, competition, business torts, insurance, securities, employment law, entertainment, sports, media, and criminal defense.
The American Lawyer honored Dan as the 2020 “Litigator of the Year,” noting that he “is a lawyer clients call in the toughest situations,” and the Daily Journal selected him among its “Lawyers of the Decade.” Legal 500 ranks Dan as one of the country’s top 10 trial lawyers and selected him as the winner of its inaugural “Leading Trial Lawyer of the Year,” describing him as an “excellent, excellent trial lawyer” in a “whirlwind year which saw him try a slew of different matters back-to-back across various industries.” Chambers USA ranks Dan as a leading lawyer and quotes sources who say he is “a first-rate trial lawyer” and “a fantastic force,” “the one you hire for bet-the-company cases” who is “highly in demand.” Clients compliment him for being “very strategic, very good in court and very client-focused.” Dan has also been recently recognized by Billboard Magazine as a “Top Music Lawyer,” Variety as one of the industry’s “50 Game-Changing Entertainment Attorneys,” The Hollywood Reporter as a “Power Lawyer,” Benchmark Litigation as a “Trial Lawyer of the Year,” The National Law Journal as a “Winning Litigator,” and by Law360 as a “Media & Entertainment MVP.” Dan is a frequent national commentator on trials and other legal issues, as well as a featured speaker on legal issues at business groups, bar and judges associations, and citizens groups.
Admissions
Bar Admissions
- California
Court Admissions
- US District Court, Central, Northern, and Southern Districts of California, and the District of Colorado
- US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia, Federal Circuit, Ninth and the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits
- US Supreme Court
Education
- Southwestern University, J.D., 1980: magna cum laude; Editor-in-Chief, Southwestern University Law Review
- University of California at Los Angeles, B.S., 1976: cum laude
Honors & Awards
- Named to the “500 Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyers” list by Lawdragon (2025)
- Recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Bet-the-Company Litigation and Commercial Litigation in Century City, CA (2006-2025)
- Consistently ranked in Band 1 by Chambers USA in Nationwide: Trial Lawyers, Media & Entertainment: Litigation, and as a Star Individual in California: General Commercial Litigation
- Named Top 100 Trial Lawyers (2018-2025), Top 20 Trial Lawyers in California (2020-2025), Litigation Star (2024-2025), Trial Lawyers of the Year (2019), and Local Litigation Star and National Practice Area Star for Energy and Natural Resources (2020) and Product Liability and Recall, Commercial, Energy (2021-2025) by Benchmark Litigation
- Named to the “500 Leading Litigators in America” list for Trial Lawyer, including Intellectual Property, Securities, Unfair Competition by Lawdragon (2022-2025)
- Named to Variety’s Music Legal Elite Report (2024)
- Ranked by Chambers Global for Litigation: Trial Lawyers (2016-2025)
- Named a Leading Commercial Litigator by Daily Journal (2023, 2025)
- Named to The Hollywood Reporter’s Legal Legends List (2023)
- Named to The Hollywood Reporter’s Power Lawyers List (2010-2023)
- Named to Variety’s Legal Impact Report (2012-2025)
- Named to Billboard's Top Music Lawyers List (2017, 2020-2024)
- Named to Los Angeles Business Journal’s LA500 (2022-2023)
- Leading Trial Lawyer (2010-2024), Leading Lawyer for General Commercial Disputes (2021-2024), Hall of Fame for Media and Entertainment: Litigation (2020-2024), Recommended for Copyright Law (2021-2024), Named Hall of Fame for Leading Trial Lawyers (2021-2022), Recommended for Securities Litigation: Defense (2021), Recommended for Sport (2021, 2024), Leading Lawyer for Media and Entertainment (2017-2019), and Trial Lawyer of the Year (2014) by The Legal 500 US
- Named one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal (2010, 2013-2022)
- Recognized by Managing Intellectual Property as an IP Star (2020-2022) and California Trademark and Copyright Star (2023)
- Named a Lawyer of the Decade by Daily Journal (2021)
- Awarded Litigator of the Year by The American Lawyer (2017, 2018, 2020)
- Named a Media & Entertainment MVP by Law360 (2012, 2015, 2017, 2020)
- Life Sciences Star for Product Liability by LMG Life Sciences (2018-2020)
- Named among the Attorneys of the Year by California Lawyer (2019)
- Received the National Impact Case Award for AT&T/Time Warner trial from Benchmark Litigation (2019)
- Selected to the National Law Journal’s Winning Litigators List (2018)
- Recognized as a Game Changer by The Recorder in its Litigation Department of the Year feature (2017)
- Received the CPR Corporate Leadership Award (2017)
- Selected to the National Law Journal’s Litigation Trailblazers list (2016)
- Recognized by Law360 as a national Trial Pro (2016)
- Named a leading entertainment lawyer in California by Daily Journal (2015)
- Named a Trial Ace by Law360 (2015)
- Named Lawyer of the Month by Attorney at Law Magazine (2015)
- Recognized as an Outstanding Alumnus in Entertainment & Media by Southwestern Law School (2014)
- Lead counsel in Lennar Corporation et al. v. Briarwood Capital LLC, named one of the Top 5 Verdicts, Intentional Torts, Daily Business Review (2014)
- Received the Century City Bar Association Litigator of the Year Award (2002-2003)
- Received the Columbus Citizens Foundation Achievement Award In Law (2001)
- Honored by Judicial Watch, Inc. for Legal Excellence and Service to Community (2000)
- Recognized as Southwestern Law School Alumnus of the Year (1998)
- Named the Malibu Bar Association Trial Lawyer of the Year (1998)
- Named the San Diego Trial Lawyers Association Trial Lawyer of the Year (1997)
- Received the Dade County Trial Lawyers Association Champion of Justice Award (1997)
- Named one of Los Angeles’ Top 50 Litigators by the Los Angeles Business Journal
Professional Activities
Member
- Trial Advocacy Board, ABA Litigation Section
- Board of Trustees, Southwestern University School of Law
- Los Angeles County Bar Association, Antitrust and Unfair Competition Sections
- ABA’s Litigation Section and Corporate Counsel Committee
- California Bar Association, Antitrust and Unfair Competition Sections
- Association of Business Trial Lawyers
Author
- “Reflections on the 20th Anniversary of the O.J. Simpson Saga,” The Hollywood Reporter (2014)
- “Outside the Courtroom,” Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, Larry King, Phoenix Books (2006)
- “Effective Witness Preparation,” California Litigation (Spring 1999)
- “Triumph of Justice: The Final Judgment on the Simpson Saga,” Random House (1998)
- “Opening Statements under California Law,” Los Angeles Lawyer (March 1989)