Hodes Named "Top Gun" Attorney Of The Year
Newport Beach Attorney Recognized as
top Medical Malpractice Litigator by OCTLA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kim Craft 714-573-0842
Newport Beach, CA - September 26, 2002 - Daniel M. Hodes has been named "Top Gun Attorney of the Year" by the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association (OCTLA). Hodes, who was selected among hundreds of attorneys and voted in by his peers, was named the top litigation attorney in the area of medical malpractice. He will be honored at the OCTLA's Top Gun Award banquet October 18, 2002 at The Sutton Place Hotel.
The OCTLA Top Gun committee judged each nominee based on the number of cases tried, nature and complexity of each case, significance of each verdict, individual contributions to the trial bar, significant appellate decisions, standing and reputation in the community, social and legal contributions to the legal profession and pro bono work.
A partner in the Newport Beach-based law firm of Lopez, Hodes, Milman & Skikos, Hodes has established himself as a leader in plaintiff litigation, specializing in HMO, breast cancer and birth trauma cases.
Throughout his career, Hodes has successfully handled hundreds of malpractice actions in the six and seven-figure range. In 1997, he won a landmark 10.96 million dollar jury verdict against an HMO for the wrongful death of a young wife and mother, the largest medical malpractice wrongful death verdict in Orange County history. The verdict was considered a great victory considering that it occurred in California, a state that has a significant limitations on the amount of money damages that can be obtained in medical malpractice actions. Hodes also litigated the largest breast cancer jury verdict ever awarded at the time in Orange County.
"Dan is one of the most respected plaintiff medical malpractice attorneys in California," said Ramon Lopez, a founding partner of the firm. "Dan's expertise in the area of complex medical malpractice actions, and his extensive, successful trial experience, makes him one of the most sought after lawyers in California to represent victims and families of victims of medical, hospital and HMO negligence."
After graduating from State University of New York, Oswego, complete with a year studying at Europa College in Bruges, Belgium, Hodes received his Juris Doctorate from Pepperdine University School of Law. At Pepperdine, Hodes was elected as president of the Student Bar Association.
Hodes has donated his time and experience to a host of professional legal organizations through the years. He served as the president of the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association in 1999, and the same year, Hodes was honored by the Consumer Attorneys Association of California (CAOC) as "Outstanding President" amongst all of the county trial lawyers associations in the state
He is also an active member of the Consumer Attorneys of California, where he has been elected by his peers as an Orange County Board Member for over seven years, the American Board of Trial Advocates, an exclusive group of the country's most experienced and recognized trial lawyers, The Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), Western Trial Lawyers Association, Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, and Orange County Bar Association. He is also a frequent author and lecturer on malpractice topics.
Hodes is also a member of the Orange County arbitration and Judge Pro Tem Panels, where he lends his expertise and volunteers his time acting as a court-appointed arbitrator and settlement officer.
Lopez, Hodes, Milman and Skikos originated in 1982 with three lawyers. The firm, which has since opened offices throughout the nation, has earned a reputation as a watchdog for consumers. Lopez, Hodes, Milman, & Skikos remains involved in the nation's highest profile cases including medical malpractice, HMO malfeasance, medical product liability, pharmaceutical drug liability, employment law and elder abuse cases. The firm has offices in Newport Beach, San Francisco, Sacramento, Cincinnati and Minneapolis.
