Attorneys

Dawn L. Hassell
Managing Attorney

Dawn is a highly skilled litigator, negotiator, and top San Francisco personal injury attorney. She has an undefeated record in trial and arbitration for her clients and a special talent for obtaining exceptional results for those injured.

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 has obtained substantial judgments and settlements for her clients. These include:

$4.9 Million for a farm laborer in his 50’s who was seriously injured in a car accident

$4.6 Million for a physician who sustained an impalement injury from a trip and fall accident

$4.67 Million court judgment for a seriously injured motorcyclist hit by a wrong way driver

$4.5 Million for a woman in her 60’s struck by a vehicle while crossing in the crosswalk who sustained a brain injury

$2.525 Million for two pedestrians struck by an agricultural vehicle pulling a trailer that came loose

$1.75 Million for a middle age man rear-ended by a commercial truck sustaining spinal injuries that required back surgery

$1.5 Million for rideshare driver hit by a reckless driver going twice the posted speed limit and required collarbone surgery

$825,000 for a middle aged administrator who suffered a surgical ankle injury as a result of a dangerous sidewalk

Awards and Honors include:

• Dawn is a nine-time Super Lawyer® having been named a Super Lawyer from 2014-2022. Super Lawyer is a rating bestowed on the top 5% of outstanding lawyers in their practice area.
• National Trial Lawyers Top 100 An invitation-only organization composed of premier trial lawyers from each state. Membership is held by some of the best and finest trial lawyers in America.
• Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum: The Top Trial Lawyers in America, is one of the most highly prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the country. Membership is limited exclusively to lawyers with court judgments and case results exceeding $2 Million. This esteemed distinction is held by less than 1% of attorneys in the entire United States.
• In 2020, several of Dawn’s case results were ranked among the highest in California by national lawsuit results ranking company Top Verdict:
• Top 10 Premises Liability Settlements in California
• Top 20 Personal Injury Settlements in California
• Top 20 Pedestrian Accident Settlements in California
• Top 50 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California
• Top 50 Wrongful Death Settlements in California
• In 2021, two of Dawn’s case results were ranked among the highest in California by national lawsuit results ranking company Top Verdict:
• Top 100 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California
• Expertise.com names 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
• Attorney and Practice  Magazine named Dawn a Top 10 Personal Injury Attorney. Less than 1% of attorneys nationwide receive an invitation for membership.
• San Francisco Magazine consistently ranks Dawn on their annual published list as one of the “Top Women Attorneys in Northern California” (2014-2022).
• Dawn served as a Distinguished Member of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association from 2002-2012.

Dawn’s high-caliber legal skills, 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 sites Yelp and Google Reviews.

Dawn received her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of Law, and was admitted to practice law in California in 1998. She has been practicing law for 24 years. She received her undergraduate degree from Binghamton University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and in the top 1% of her class.

Dawn is committed to making our streets safer. She is a member of  WalkSF (a pedestrian advocacy organization making streets safer for pedestrians), and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (a bicycle safety advocacy group).

In her spare time, Dawn enjoys spending time with her family and adorable dog Emmett, a miniature poodle-terrier mix.

Lisa A. Villasenor
Senior Attorney

(Of Counsel)

Lisa is a highly skilled litigator, negotiator, and top trial lawyer, with a long and successful background litigating personal injury and wrongful death cases through trial.

With an undefeated record in trial and arbitration for her clients, Lisa has a 100% win rate in 12 trials to verdict – including a wrongful death case, a toxic-mold case on behalf of a homeowner, and many auto accident cases.

Lisa is a formidable adversary. Her recent case results include $4,900,000 for a seriously injured motorist, $1,750,000 for a migrant farmworker in her 60’s struck and killed by an agricultural vehicle, $1,500,000 for a 73-year-old retired man who sustained a surgical femur fracture and post-surgical complications after tripping and falling on a box left in the entryway of a market, and $998,000 for a father and son injured by a negligent tow truck driver.

Lisa joined The Hassell Law Group in 2014 as a Senior Attorney and has practiced law for the past 34 years.

In the last two years, two of Lisa’s case results were ranked among the highest in California by the national lawsuit results ranking site Top Verdict:

• Top 20 Pedestrian Accident Settlements in California
• Top 50 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California

Lisa has worked extensively on both sides of personal injury cases, as plaintiff’s counsel and also as defense counsel. Before joining our firm, she practiced personal injury, asbestos, and pharmaceutical litigation at some of the top law firms in San Francisco. She was a defense attorney at a top San Francisco law firm, Manning, Marder, et al., and was a partner at Prestholt, Kleeger, Fidone & Villasenor.

Her extensive litigation experience includes personal injury, premises liability, wrongful death, government-entity liability, toxic torts, and insurance bad faith. After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Lisa worked extensively on bad-faith litigation against 20th Century Insurance Company.

Lisa is a highly distinguished member of the Queen’s Bench Bar Association, which promotes equality for women.

Lisa is committed to making our streets safer. Our firm is a sustaining member of WalkSF (a pedestrian advocacy organization who makes streets safer for pedestrians), and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (a bicycle safety advocacy group). Lisa has zealously represented many bicyclists and pedestrians in her career.

Lisa received her Bachelor of Science degree (B.S.) from Cal State University, Long Beach, and her law degree (J.D.) from Loyola Law School. She was admitted to practice law in California in 1988. During her school years, she worked in her father’s insurance brokerage gaining significant insight into insurance issues and the insurance industry.

Lisa is a highly distinguished member of The San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association.

In her spare time, Lisa loves to golf. She is an avid golfer and a member of many local women’s golf organizations.

Judy Graziano
Senior Attorney

(Of Counsel)

Judy is a highly skilled litigator, top-level negotiator, and trial lawyer with a long and extensive background handling catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases. She holds a near-perfect record of wins in law and motion practice on behalf of the firm’s clients.

Judy is involved in all aspects of litigating serious injury cases for The Hassell Law Group from inception to conclusion. She has undefeated record on all personal injury cases she has tried in court.

Judy joined The Hassell Law Group in 2008 as Senior Counsel. She has practiced law in California for the past 23 years and was admitted to the Bar in 1999.

Judy is a formidable advocate for her clients. Her recent case results include $4,900,000 for a seriously injured motorist, $1,750,000 for the family of a 71-year-old migrant farm worker hit and killed by a commercial vehicle; a $1,000,000 insurance policy limit settlement for a client who tripped and fell at a commercial property and required three surgeries; and a $925,000 settlement for the daughter of a woman in her mid-80’s in a wrongful death case.

In the last 2 years, three of Judy’s case results were ranked as among the highest in California by national lawsuit results ranking company Top Verdict. Judy’s results in these cases were ranked as:

• Top 10 Premises Liability Settlements in California
• Top 20 Personal Injury Settlements in California
• Top 50 Wrongful Death Settlements in California

Over the course of her career, Judy has successfully represented plaintiffs with serious injuries in catastrophic accident cases at some of the most prominent personal injury law firms in the Bay Area with case values exceeding $1 million. Before joining The Hassell Law Group, she worked at top personal injury firms The Veen Firm and The Law Offices of Joseph Carcione, Jr.

Experienced in the dual representation of clients in civil and workers compensation cases, Judy also holds an undefeated record in the many cases she has tried before the Workers Compensation Appeals Board.

Judy is a distinguished member of The San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association.

Judy is a California native and a Phi Kappa Phi undergraduate from San Jose State University. The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline honor society and standards for election are extremely high. Judy graduated from law school in 1999.

 

George M. Morris
Senior Attorney

George joined The Hassell Law Group in 2016. He comes from an entire family of doctors and has extensive medical knowledge which he uses regularly in our practice.

George has over 7 years of experience working in personal injury law. He represents clients in personal injury claims, litigation, arbitration, and trial. He has an undefeated record in arbitration handled on behalf of the firm’s clients.

Some of George’s recent case results include a $750,000 for a 70-year-old client who sustained a surgical femur fracture in a fall accident; $400,000 for an elderly woman who was in a car accident and required shoulder surgery, $300,000 for a family injured by a negligent driver who hit the family’s vehicle; and a $300,000 result for an elderly pedestrian who sustained a knee injury when a negligent driver struck her in a crosswalk.

In the past 2 years several of George’s case results were ranked among the highest in California by the national lawsuit results ranking site Top Verdict:

• Top 50 Truck Accident Settlements (2021)
• Top 100 Motor Vehicle Accidents Settlements (2021)
• Top 100 Motor Vehicle Accidents Settlements (2020)

George is a National Merit Scholar. He received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University. He obtained his law degree from The University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 2016. He was admitted to practice law in California in 2017.

Prior to joining the firm, George clerked for the California Court of Appeal, First District. He also worked at top San Francisco plaintiff’s firm Kornblum, Cochran, Erickson, and Harbison, LLP on personal injury cases, public entity claims, insurance bad faith, and medical malpractice cases.

George is a member of San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, and WalkSF. Both organizations advocate for safer streets for bicyclists and pedestrians. George has zealously represented many pedestrians and bicyclists injured in accidents.

George is a member of:

• The San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
• The American Bar Association
• Bar Association of San Francisco
• BALIF

George is a loyal public servant. In 2014, he received an Outstanding Volunteer in Public Service Award from The Justice and Diversity Center (JDC) of The Bar Association of San Francisco. He has also been honored for his pro bono work on behalf of Homeless Legal Services, and has volunteered at the Family Violence Law Center in Alameda County.

In his spare time, George loves to bicycle ride, cook, and run along the Bay.

 

Ian Goldenberg
Senior Attorney

(Of Counsel)

Ian graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He obtained his law degree (Juris Doctor) from New York Law School. He was admitted to practice law in 2002 in a different state and has practiced law since. He then moved to California and was admitted to practice law in California in 2016.

Ian has over 20 years of valuable experience as a licensed attorney. Ian presently represents clients in personal injury claims and litigation at our firm. He has over seven years of experience in personal injury law. He has also run his own law firm. As a result, Ian brings a wealth of knowledge to our team.

Ian has been working with our firm for several years as co-counsel on some of our cases. Ian has since joined our team as Senior Attorney (Of Counsel).

Ian has negotiated a number of sizable settlements for clients at his own firm and as co-counsel on our cases. Ian has worked with many clients who have sustained severe injuries requiring extensive treatment and often major surgery and he takes tremendous pride in helping these clients.

During law school, Ian worked at other personal injury firms like ours, gaining hands-on experience in accident cases. He developed a keen sense of the detail and organization involved in handling injury cases and uses it to maximize his clients’ outcomes. Ian has excellent client communication skills and clients are closely involved in decisions about their cases. Ian enjoys speaking with clients and potential clients and helping put them at ease. He is adept at explaining the insurance claims process and the legal aspects of their cases. Ian speaks conversational Spanish.

In his spare time, Ian likes to travel. You will also find him out and about taking in the region’s panoramic views.

Caroline Shen
Associate Attorney

Caroline completed her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley in 2014, with a major in Legal Studies and a minor in Music Performance. She obtained her law degree (J.D.) from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 2019.

Caroline represents clients in personal injury claims and litigation at our firm.  She has over 7 years of experience in personal injury law.

Caroline joined The Hassell Law Group in the summer of 2019, and is admitted to practice law in California. She has been handling personal injury cases exclusively for the firm for over the past 3 years and has negotiated sizeable settlements for our clients.  Caroline had over 4 years of prior experience working at a personal injury law firm before joining our practice.  She brings a wealth of knowledge to our team.

Caroline has worked on two big cases at our law firm that resulted in over $1M settlements.  Both case results were ranked by Top Verdict in the Top 100 Personal Injury Settlements in California in 2019.  One of the cases was a trip and fall on a raised sidewalk panel with serious injuries and resulted in a $1M insurance policy limit settlement for the client.  The other case was a trip and fall on a box in a supermarket entrance that resulted in serious injuries and a $1.5M settlement for the client.  Since then, Caroline has resolved a substantial number of high value cases favorably for our clients.

During law school, Caroline worked at many esteemed organizations expanding her legal skills, such as The Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and Creative Industry Law. She was also selected and served as a 2018 Fellow for The Justice and Diversity Center of The Bar Association of San Francisco.

Caroline is passionate about helping those injured in accidents and is a fierce negotiator on their behalf. She also values doing volunteer work in our community.  She served as a volunteer at Berkeley East Bay Humane Society and Berkeley Animal Shelter. She’s also served as a volunteer violin instructor at The Music Connection for students from low-income households.

Caroline speaks conversational Chinese (Mandarin Shanghainese dialect).

In her spare time, Caroline enjoys playing violin and engaging in creative writing projects.