Daniel Benji’s favorite hobby is fighting the insurance companies that try to take advantage of injured people.
As a California personal injury lawyer, Mr. Benji litigates all types of accident and injury cases throughout the state. He began his legal career at Carpenter & Zuckerman as a law clerk and, shortly after being sworn in as a lawyer, began trying cases. In 2017, he began serving as managing attorney of the firm’s Orange County office. In 2018, Benji became a CZ Law partner.
Mr. Benji has significant litigation experience. He has taken and defended hundreds of depositions, including those of defendants, expert witnesses, law enforcement officers, corporate and government employees, along with other individuals and persons most knowledgeable. He has extensive experience with law and motion, regularly prevailing on demurrers, motions to strike, motions for summary judgment, and other pre-trial, trial, and post-trial related matters.
His knowledge of litigation, accidents, and injuries enable Mr. Benji to frequently obtain substantial recoveries for his clients without having to go to court. Each year, Mr. Benji resolves millions of dollars in accident and injury cases whether by settlement, mediation, arbitration, or jury trial. Other personal injury attorneys in the community consult with Mr. Benji when they have questions on their cases or need advice on how to handle a case. If a case has to be tried, Mr. Benji enthusiastically shows up ready for trial and is no stranger to the courtroom.
As a trial lawyer, Mr. Benji has tried approximately 20 jury trials as lead trial counsel in various California venues, including the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Santa Clara. Mr. Benji has won jury trials in jurisdictions traditionally thought of as difficult against prominent defense attorneys and defense experts. He has obtained successful results including published jury verdicts and a Top 100 Verdict for personal injury cases and a Top 50 Verdict for motor vehicle accident cases in the state.
All of Mr. Benji’s cases get prepared with an eye towards one day presenting the case to a jury. He has expertise with car, trucking, rideshare, bicycle, pedestrian, and other traffic-related accidents. Additionally, he has considerable experience with premises liability cases involving unsafe conditions, walkway defects, lighting defects, stairway defects, and other maintenance and safety-related issues. Mr. Benji also handles government claims and lawsuits for things such as dangerous conditions, public transit, school district, and various other accidents involving government employees.
Mr. Benji thoroughly understands – and knows how to prove — the range of injuries which can arise through accidents and trauma. In addition to wrongful death, Mr. Benji has obtained compensation for those with injury to virtually every part of the human body, from head to toe. These include broken bones, loss of vision, loss of limb, burn injuries, spinal injuries involving nerves, discs, facets, and other pain generators, traumatic brain injury, complex regional pain, thoracic outlet syndrome, damage to internal organs, and other unique and complicated medical conditions.
Mr. Benji loves being a trial lawyer and constantly pushes himself to remain on the cutting edge of personal injury law. He communicates with other legal and healthcare professionals to keep informed of new trends in the industry, and pursues ongoing legal education so that his skills and knowledge continue to grow.
Prior to CZ Law, Benji obtained his law degree from Southwestern Law School, where he graduated in the top 10% of his class. While in law school, he received the highest grades in a number of courses, including Evidence and Legal Writing. He served as research assistant to Professor Norman M. Garland, a prominent legal scholar and law professor to many current trial practitioners in California. He was a member of the Law Journal and Moot Court (where he won awards all three years and served on the Board), and he served as judicial extern to the Honorable Consuelo B. Marshall, of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. He graduated cum laude from UCLA in 2007 and then went on to work for Bet Tzedek Legal services, a nonprofit law center providing free legal services to those in need.
Mr. Benji exclusively represents ordinary people regardless of their socioeconomic status, and does not represent corporations, insurance companies, the government, or others traditionally thought of as being “powerful.” Fluent in Farsi, yet born and raised in Los Angeles, Benji aggressively litigates cases on behalf of CZ Law clients all over California.
