Attorneys

Dawn L. Hassell
Managing Attorney

Dawn is a highly skilled litigator and among the very top San Francisco personal injury attorneys. She has an undefeated record in trial and arbitration for her clients and a special talent for obtaining exceptional results. She is in her 25th year practicing law.

Dawn has obtained substantial judgments and settlements for her clients. Some of these include:

$12.5 Million+ confidential settlement with co-counsel for a woman who was seriously injured in a head on collision caused by a commercial truck driver

$5 Million for an injured woman in her 70’s and her husband who was killed in a head on collision caused by a negligent driver

$4.9 Million for a farm worker in his 50s who was seriously injured in a car accident caused by a commercial truck driver

$4.6 Million for a physician who sustained an impalement injury to the hand as a result of 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 60s who sustained a surgical brain injury after being struck by a vehicle while in the crosswalk

$2.525 Million for two pedestrians struck by a loose trailer pulled by an agricultural vehicle

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

$1.5 Million for a rideshare driver who required collarbone surgery after a head on collision caused by a reckless driver going twice the posted speed limit

$1.5 Million for a pedestrian in his late 70’s who sustained head and knee injuries when he was struck by a car while in a crosswalk

Awards and Honors include:

Super Lawyer: 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 lawsuit results ranking company Top Verdict:

• Top 10 Animal Attack/ Dog Bite Settlements in California (2023)
• Top 10 Premises Liability Settlements in California (2020)
• Top 10 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 10 Truck Accident Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 10 Pedestrian Accident Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 20 Personal Injury Settlements in California (2020)
• Top 20 Personal Injury Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 20 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 20 Pedestrian Accident Settlements in California (2020)
• Top 50 Truck Accident Settlements in California (2023)
• Top 50 Personal Injury Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 50 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 50 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California (2020)
• Top 50 Wrongful Death Settlements in California (2020)

Expertise.com has 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.

Nation’s Top One Percent: Dawn was recently selected for inclusion to the 2023 list as a member of the Nation’s Top One Percent by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel. NADC is an organization dedicated to promoting the highest standards of legal excellence. Its mission is to objectively recognize the attorneys who elevate the standards of the Bar and provide a benchmark for other lawyers to emulate.

For 2025, Dawn has been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers. Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based on the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleague within the same geographical area and legal practice area.

San Francisco Magazine has selected Dawn for 10 years in a row for inclusion in 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 was admitted to practice law in California in 1998.  She received her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of 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.

 

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:

$4.9 Million for a seriously injured motorist

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

$1.75 Million for a migrant farmworker in her 60’s struck and killed by an agricultural vehicle

$1.5 Million 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

$1.5 Million for a pedestrian in his late 70’s who sustained head and knee injuries when he was struck by a car while in a crosswalk

$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 36 years.

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

• Top 10 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 10 Truck Accident Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 20 Personal Injury Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 20 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 20 Pedestrian Accident Settlements in California (2020)
• Top 50 Truck Accident Settlements in California (2023)
• Top 50 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California (2020)

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, truck accidents, premises liability, wrongful death, construction accidents, 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. Lisa has zealously represented many bicyclists, pedestrians, and dog bite/dog attack victims 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 and trial attorney with a long and extensive background handling catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases. She has an 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 25 years and was admitted to the Bar in 1999.

Judy is involved in all aspects of litigating serious injury cases for The Hassell Law Group from inception to conclusion. She holds a near-perfect record of wins in law and motion practice on behalf of the firm’s clients.

Judy is a formidable opponent. She has obtained many multi-million-dollar case results for clients over the course of her career. Recent case results include:

$5 Million for an injured woman in her 70’s and her husband who was killed in a head on collision caused by a negligent driver

$4.9 Million for a seriously injured motorist

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

$1.75 Million for the family of a 71-year-old migrant farm worker hit and killed by a commercial vehicle

$1.5 Million for rideshare driver with a surgical collarbone injury who was hit in a near head on collision by a reckless driver driving twice the speed limit

$1 Million insurance policy limit settlement for a client who tripped and fell at a commercial property and required three surgeries

$925,000 settlement for the daughter of a woman in her mid-80’s in a wrongful death case

In the last few years a number of Judy’s case results were ranked as among the highest in California by lawsuit results ranking company Top Verdict. Judy’s results in these cases were ranked as:

• Top 10 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 10 Truck Accident Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 10 Premises Liability Settlements in California (2020)
• Top 20 Personal Injury Settlements in California (2022)
• Top 20 Personal Injury Settlements in California (2020)
• Top 20 Pedestrian Accident Settlements in California (2020)
• Top 50 Truck Accident Settlements in California (2023)
• Top 50 Wrongful Death Settlements in California (2020)

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 litigated high value cases 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 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 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.

Judy is a California native. In her spare time, Judy enjoys dancing and seeing live music performances.

Jonathan Harriman
Senior Attorney

(Of Counsel)

Jonathan brings over 15 years of experience as a trial lawyer and litigator to our legal team. He is a zealous advocate and has handled a number of trials to verdict.  Jonathan is a highly experienced litigator with a deep commitment to his clients and a true warrior for justice.  He is a skilled adversary in all aspects of litigation, handling discovery, depositions, and motion practice for seriously injured clients. Jonathan has also worked on both sides of cases. As a former defense attorney, he uses his knowledge from being on the other side of cases to out-litigate his opponent and maximize his client’s compensation.

Jonathan has successfully represented clients in hundreds of mediations and negotiated substantial settlements on their behalf.  He has a reputation within the industry for being a thorough, assertive, and tough litigator, which he leverages to garner favorable results for his clients.  Some recent case results include a $1.5 million result for two teenagers involved in a rollover caused by an inexperienced driver and $750,000 for a bicyclist struck in a bicycle lane by a city employee.  Earlier in his career, he worked at a well-known Bay Area personal injury firm where he recovered over $7 million for his clients.

Jonathan has extensive experience handling traumatic brain injury cases arising from accidents. He has spent his entire career handling serious injury cases arising from car accidents, rideshare collisions, truck crashes, bicycle accidents, pedestrian injuries, construction site incidents, aviation accidents, and defective product claims. He also has experience running his own personal injury law firm. He has handled cases throughout California in both state and federal courts. For him, trial preparation includes getting to know his clients and their families to help them through the legal process and to present them to juries in the most compelling manner.

Jonathan received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University. He received his law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. He lives in Oakland with his wife and son. He is actively involved in volunteering and serves as a board member and volunteer attorney with the Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals (CCLP) and is a high school mentor with the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Law Academy. In his free time, he enjoys cycling in the Oakland Hills, Mount Diablo, and the Headlands. Jonathan firmly believes that bicycles are the future of urban transportation and commuting for urban citizens, that drivers need to be better educated, and that our cities must create safe spaces for bicycle commuters.

Sam Lasser
Senior Attorney

(Of Counsel)

Sam has been practicing law for more than 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. He has tried 11 cases to verdict with successful results in all of them. Sam’s extensive courtroom experience provides his clients with a battle-tested trial lawyer. Sam has obtained a number of 6 and 7 figure results for clients in personal injury cases during his career as a personal injury lawyer.

Sam is an experienced personal injury attorney with broad knowledge of the law. He has substantial experience working on both the plaintiff and defense side in cases. He has run his own personal injury firm, and brings extensive skill to our team. In the early part of his career, he practiced criminal law for a number of years in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since that time he has practiced personal injury law handling all types of personal injury cases including motor vehicle accidents, bicycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, to slip/trip and fall accidents , and other injury cases caused by accidents.

Sam joined The Hassell Law Group as a Senior Attorney in January of 2023. He provides his clients with vigorous personal representation.

Sam speaks conversational Spanish.

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.