Daniel T. Campbell

Partner
dcampbell@crowell.com
+1.202.624.2544

Dan Campbell is vice-chair of the Mass Tort, Product, and Consumer Litigation Group based in Crowell & Moring's Washington, D.C. office. Dan also serves as the Chair of the firm’s Lawyer Development Committee.

Dan primarily represents corporations and organizations faced with product liability, commercial, or contractual disputes throughout the United States. In this capacity, Dan serves as national coordinating counsel, strategic counsel, and lead trial counsel for companies of all sizes on product liability, warranty, and other personal injury and property damage matters. Dan's tort and product liability experience spans various industries, including the automotive, medical device, railroad, and aviation industries, and his clients include product manufacturers, distributors and retailers. Dan also handles complex contract, commercial litigation and arbitration matters for product manufacturers, service providers, and government contractor companies.

Dan is ready to take a case through trial, if warranted, and has the experience to do so. He has first chaired over 30 jury trials through verdict in state and federal courts in his career and has argued cases to the Virginia Supreme Court. Some of Dan's defense verdicts include:

  • Defending a national wheelchair distributor in a federal court trial involving claims of product defect resulting in severe brain injuries.
  • Defending one of the nation's leading amusement park owners in a federal court trial involving claims of ride design defect resulting in severe permanent injuries.
  • Defending a surgeon in a state court trial involving claims of medical malpractice resulting in severe personal injuries.

Of course, for risk management, commercial relations, and cost reasons not all cases should go to trial. Dan has handled cases that resulted in summary judgment, dismissal or other favorable resolution for his clients, including recent examples such as:

  • Representing one of the nation’s leading snack food manufacturers in defense of breach of contract and promissory estoppel claims in Illinois federal court, obtaining summary judgment on all claims prior to trial.
  • Representing one of the nation's leading transportation companies, providing rail-based transportation services, regarding complex contract and tort issues related to a significant bridge collapse and train derailment, obtaining a low dollar settlement on significant property damage claims.
  • Representing one of the world's leading Tier 1 parts suppliers in a billion dollar dispute over alleged product defect and warranty claims, in which Dan helped guide the client to a favorable resolution of the dispute prior to litigation.

In his national coordinating counsel role, Dan manages the defense of hundreds of toxic tort matters pending in over 20 jurisdictions, state and federal, for a prominent defendant, ensuring the coordination of trial and defense themes, expert witness strategy, motions strategy and discovery, managing local counsel and preparing witnesses for trial and deposition purposes.

Dan's automotive industry practice includes the representation of both manufacturers and suppliers in product defect, warranty, and contract claims, as well as counseling on regulatory issues involving NHTSA and other government agencies.

Dan also counsels consumer product and automotive manufacturers and suppliers in pre-litigation strategies and other issues, such as product risk assessment, design and testing strategy, and warning language.

As the Chair of the firm’s Lawyer Development Committee, Dan oversees the review and development process for all of the firm’s associates and counsel. Dan has also served as an instructor for Crowell & Moring's Trial Advocacy program since its inception. In this program, Crowell & Moring associates and counsel receive bi-weekly training and instruction on various trial elements and skills. The program culminates each June in mock trials held in the D.C. federal courthouse.

Dan is a former member of a firm in Norfolk, Virginia, where he represented Fortune 500 companies and smaller organizations in defense of product liability, medical device, premises liability, toxic tort, and railroad FELA claims, as well as on commercial litigation matters. Dan also represented physicians and other health care providers in defense of medical malpractice claims, and nursing home facilities in defense of negligence claims.

For several years Dan was the statewide coordinator and chair of the Virginia Bar Association Young Lawyers' Division Model Judiciary Program, which provides an opportunity for high school students to participate in mock trials and mock appeals before real judges, including appellate arguments to the Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Dan also served on the Executive Committee of the VBA YLD.

Dan received his A.B. from the College of William & Mary and his J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law. Dan is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and in Virginia, as well as before federal district courts in the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia, the Federal Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dan is a member of the American Bar Association and the Defense Research Institute, and is the past chair of the Norfolk Portsmouth Bar Association Young Lawyers Section.


Affiliations

Admitted to practice: District of Columbia, Virginia, Federal District Courts in the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia, the Federal Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the United States Supreme Court



Insights

Speeches & Presentations

  • "The Safety Agencies in Transition – What to Expect at FDA, CPSC, and NHTSA in the First 100 Days," Crowell & Moring Webinar (March 30, 2017). Presenters: Cheryl A. Falvey, John Fuson, Matthew Cohen, Scott L. Winkelman, Lauren Bell, Daniel T. Campbell, and Rebecca Baden Chaney.
  • "Changes to NHTSA Rules: Early Warning Reporting and Recall Procedures," Crowell & Moring Webinar (October 30, 2013). Presenters: Daniel T. Campbell, Michael L. Kuppersmith, and Rebecca Baden Chaney.
  • "How Internal Policies & Practices Can Prevent - or Fuel - a Crisis: Managing a Product Recall Crisis," Crowell & Moring Advertising Product Risk Management Seminar (March 19, 2013). Moderator: Laura Jastrem Walther; Panelists: Daniel T. Campbell, John Fuson, and Steve Edwards (Stericycle).
  • "Motor Vehicle Safety / NHTSA: Steering in the Right Direction: What you need to know about NHTSA enforcement, the ‘electrification’ of motor vehicles, and other automotive hot topics," Crowell & Moring Product Risk Management Seminar (October 19, 2011). Moderators: Dan Campbell; Rebecca Baden Chaney. Panelists: O. Kevin Vincent (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration); James Chen (Tesla Motors); Joe Stancati (Dana Holding Corporation).

Publications


Client Alerts & Newsletters


Press Coverage


Firm News & Announcements

June 24, 2013 Crowell & Moring Recognized by National Law Journal as Washington, D.C. "General Civil Litigation" Department of the Year
October 5, 2011 Crowell & Moring Consumer Product Safety Seminar to Feature Senator Mark Pryor and Other Key Government Officials
January 4, 2008 Crowell & Moring Elects Seven New Partners And Promotes 16 Attorneys To Counsel And Senior Counsel Positions