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Daniel Dutko knows the best way to maximize recovery for clients is to prepare every case for trial. A trial lawyer with more than twenty years of experience, Daniel has built his career trying high-stakes cases against powerful defendants in courtrooms across the country. Over the course of his career, he has tried more than fifty jury trials and recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for his clients through verdicts and settlements.
In 2025, Daniel served as lead trial counsel in Skaggs v. Angels Baseball, a wrongful death case against the Los Angeles Angels, a Major League Baseball franchise valued at more than $1 billion. After more than three months of trial, Daniel asked the jury to award the Skaggs family more than $250 million in actual damages, in addition to punitive damages. During deliberations, the jury sent a note asking, “Do we as the jury get to decide the punitive damage amount? There is no field (on the charge) for it?” The following day, the Los Angeles Angels settled the case for a confidential amount.
Daniel also served as lead trial counsel in West v. Colorado Materials, representing the parents of Andrew West, an oilfield worker who was killed by a tractor-trailer truck. Daniel tried the case in Hays County, one of the more conservative counties in Texas. After a week-long trial, the jury returned a $46 million verdict for the family—the largest personal injury verdict in Hays County history.
In 2023, Daniel was appointed Special Prosecutor by the Texas House of Representatives Board of Managers, the bipartisan group of representatives charged with prosecuting the impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. In that role, Daniel served as a trial lawyer before the Texas Senate and cross-examined key witnesses on the Senate floor in one of the most closely watched proceedings in Texas history.
In Vine v. PLS Financial, Daniel was appointed Lead Class Counsel in a class action lawsuit against a national payday loan company. He represented thousands of consumers who were wrongfully prosecuted after PLS Financial pursued criminal complaints over unpaid loans. After years of litigation, the court approved a class-wide settlement that fully compensated class members, with remaining funds awarded cy pres to Texas Appleseed, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization. Texas Appleseed received a cy pres award of $240,500.
Daniel’s courtroom advocacy extends from the trial court to some of the highest courts in the country. He has argued before the Texas Supreme Court in a class action involving consumer financial practices, before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on behalf of a widow in a wrongful death case against a cruise line, and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in class action litigation against a national payday lender. His appellate experience informs the way he prepares cases from beginning to end, with a focus on legal strategy, preserving error, and positioning cases for success at trial and on appeal.
Daniel joined Kherkher Garcia LLP from Rusty Hardin & Associates, where he served as managing partner and head of personal injury litigation. During his eight years at Rusty Hardin & Associates, Daniel handled high-stakes litigation and represented numerous victims in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases.
Much of Daniel’s success representing plaintiffs is shaped by his early experience on the defense side. He began his career representing insurance companies and large corporations, where he learned firsthand the strategies defense lawyers use to limit liability and reduce recoveries. He now uses that insight to help plaintiffs anticipate and overcome those tactics in high-stakes litigation.
Daniel has been licensed in Texas since 2006. He graduated from Texas A&M University and earned his law degree from South Texas College of Law Houston, where he was named Dean’s Most Outstanding Student Advocate and inducted into the Order of the Barristers. He later served as an adjunct professor at South Texas College of Law, teaching trial advocacy and coaching trial teams to national championships.
In both 2025 and 2026, Lawdragon recognized Daniel as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America, a distinction reflecting his place among the most accomplished and influential lawyers in the nation. Lawdragon also recognized Daniel as one of the 500 Leading Litigators in America in 2026 and one of the 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers from 2021 through 2026. Since 2023, Daniel has been selected to Super Lawyers, and in 2025 and 2026 he was recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Personal Injury Litigation.
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