Attorneys

Dawn L. Hassell
Managing Attorney

Dawn is a highly skilled litigator 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 the 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. Some of these include:

• $4.9 Million for a farm worker in his 50’s who was seriously injured in a car accident
• $4.6 Million for a physician who sustained an impalement injury in 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 hit by a vehicle while crossing in the crosswalk who sustained a surgical brain injury
• $2.525 Million for two pedestrians struck by a trailer being pulled by an agricultural vehicle which 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 in a head on collision caused by a reckless driver going twice the posted speed limit. Our client required collarbone surgery
• $825,000 for a middle aged administrator who sustained a surgical ankle injury on a dangerous sidewalk

Awards and Honors include:

• Dawn has been selected as a Super Lawyer® for 10 years in a row. 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.
• Dawn’s case results have ranked among the highest in California by national lawsuit results ranking company Top Verdict:
  • Top 10 Premises Liability Settlements in California (2020)
  • Top 20 Personal Injury Settlements in California (2022)
  • Top 20 Pedestrian Accident Settlements in California (2020)
  • Top 50 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California (2020)
  • Top 50 Wrongful Death Settlements in California (2020)
  • Top 100 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California (2021)
• Expertise.com named 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 has named Dawn a Top 10 Personal Injury Attorney. Less than 1% of attorneys nationwide receive an invitation for membership.
• San Francisco Magazine has ranked Dawn for 10 years in a row on their annual published list of the “Top Women Attorneys in Northern California” (2014-2023).
• 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 is in her 25th year of practicing law. Dawn 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 for safer streets for pedestrians), and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (an advocacy organization for the safety of bicylists on our streets).

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

James L. Armstrong
Senior Attorney

James is a top trial lawyer with a long and successful career of litigating and trying personal injury cases to verdict. He brings substantial experience in personal injury litigation and trial to our practice. He has tried 20 cases to verdict and won substantial victories for his clients. He has handled hundreds of mediations for clients throughout his career and holds an outstanding record of success. James also holds a near-perfect record of wins for his clients in law and motion practice.

James has an award-winning track record of success representing seriously injured clients in high-value personal injury and wrongful death claims. He has worked extensively on both sides in high-stakes serious injury cases, both as a Plaintiff’s attorney and as an Insurance Defense Attorney. This gives him unique insight that few have. Many of these cases involved motor vehicle accidents, general negligence, premises liability, and public entity liability. James leverages his high-level legal acumen and extensive background to the benefit of his clients in their cases.

James graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He was awarded an academic scholarship from Stanford University. He received his law degree (J.D.) from the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Throughout his career, James has worked as a trial attorney for several well-known Bay Area litigation firms. He also worked as Deputy Supervising Trial Attorney at the Oakland City Attorney’s office, where he tried six cases on behalf of the City of Oakland.

James has previously been selected as a Northern California Super Lawyer®. Super Lawyer® is a rating bestowed on the top 5% of outstanding lawyers within their practice area.

With substantial expertise in personal injury law, an award winning skill set, and team management experience, James is a key member of our trial team, and he seeks to deliver superior legal representation to his clients.

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.

Ian Goldenberg
Senior Attorney

(Of Counsel)

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 practicing in personal injury law.

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 another state and practiced law there until he moved to California where he was admitted to practice law in 2016.

Ian has also run his own law firm.  As a result, Ian brings a wealth of knowledge to our team. Ian worked as co-counsel on some of our cases before joining our team as a Senior Attorney.

Ian has negotiated a number of sizable settlements for clients at his own firm and as co-counsel on our cases.  He 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 client outcomes. Ian has excellent client communication skills and his clients are closely involved in decisions about their cases. Ian enjoys speaking with 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 enjoys traveling and taking in the Bay Area’s many panoramic views.

Sam Lasser
Senior Attorney

(Of Counsel)

Sam has been practicing law for over 15 years. He was admitted to practice law in California in 2007.

Sam received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. He obtained his law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Sam has substantial trial experience. For over ten years, he practiced criminal law in the San Francisco Bay Area and has tried many cases to verdict.  Sam’s extensive courtroom experience provides his clients with a battle-tested trial lawyer.

Sam is an experienced personal injury attorney with broad knowledge of the law. He has substantial experience working on the plaintiff and defense side in cases. He provides his clients with vigorous personal representation. Sam has handled all types of personal injury cases including motor vehicle accidents, bicycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, slip/trip and fall accidents, and other injury cases arising from accidents.

Sam is a proud member of these esteemed organizations:

• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• State Bar of California
• Bar Association of San Francisco

In addition to practicing in the State Courts in California, Sam is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Northern District and Eastern District of California.

Caroline Shen
Associate Attorney

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

Caroline handles personal injury claims and litigation at the firm.  Caroline has almost 8 years of experience in personal injury law. She joined The Hassell Law Group in 2019, and has been handling personal injury cases at the firm since.  Prior to joining our team, Caroline worked for another personal injury law firm for 4 years in a paralegal type capacity.  She brings a wealth of knowledge to our team.

Caroline has worked on cases at our firm that resulted in settlements of $1M or more. Two such case results were ranked by Top Verdict in the Top 100 Personal Injury Settlements in California.  One 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 was a trip and fall on a box just inside 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 cases favorably for our clients.  She has negotiated sizeable settlements for her clients. She is a tenacious fighter for the rights of the injured.

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 advocate 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.