Practice Areas
Daniel Brier focuses his practice on complex civil and criminal litigation and investigations, and is often sought out for sensitive and high-profile matters. Dan has represented many corporate executives, physicians, lawyers, and public officials (elected and appointed) including the Governor of Pennsylvania, two former Leaders of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, a Supreme Court Justice, and Cabinet Secretaries. He routinely represents parties in high-profile civil and criminal matters. Dan and MBK’s team actively participated in the successful defense of parallel state and federal constitutional challenges to Pennsylvania’s Election Code which authorized no excuse mail-in voting. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s September 2020 decision garnered national attention from The Wall Street Journal, CNN and The New York Times.
Dan has decades of experience handling the most challenging and sensitive cases with his unique combination of tactical and tactful precision, and a relentless pursuit of justice. He prosecuted a civil claim against the Diocese of Scranton and obtained what The New York Times identified as “one of the largest individual awards made to a victim of sexual abuse by clergy members.” Together with MBK partner Donna Walsh, he obtained an eight-figure settlement for a client against a public company in a theft of trade secrets and computer fraud and abuse act matter. Together with MBK partner Jack Dempsey, Dan obtained a $3.7 million verdict against the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on behalf of an Iraqi combat veteran based on the VA’s failure to properly treat combat induced PTSD. This was the first verdict against the VA for failure to properly treat PTSD. Together with MBK partners Frank Brier and Jack Dempsey, he obtained a $10 million confidential settlement for the estate of an individual in a wrongful death matter. On behalf of a minority group of Trustees of The Pennsylvania State University, together with MBK partners, Donna Walsh and Frank Brier, he succeeded in compelling court-ordered access, including an award of attorneys’ fees, to the work product developed during the investigation that purportedly justified the issuance of and conclusions in the “Report of the Special Investigative Counsel Regarding Actions of the University Related to the Child Sexual Abuse Committed by Gerald A. Sandusky.”
Dan is a longtime Fellow of both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. Fellowship is extended only by invitation, after careful investigation, to experienced trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility, and collegiality. Membership of the American College of Trial Lawyers is limited to no more than one percent of the lawyers in each state. In 2021, Dan was selected to serve on the Judicial Independence Committee of the American College of Trial Lawyers. This Committee, which, includes former and current Judges, focuses on the importance of an independent judiciary and coordinates the College’s response to threats to the judiciary or attacks on judges. In 2022, Dan was appointed to the Lawyers Advisory Committee of the Judicial Council of the United States Court of Appeals for The Third Circuit, on the recommendation of the federal Judges in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Dan has also been named every year since 2011 to the select list of Top 100 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers. American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell selected him as a Top Rated Lawyer in White Collar Criminal Defense Law, and City & State Pennsylvania named him to the 2022 Law Power 100 list.
Practice Areas
Admissions
- Pennsylvania
- New York
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- United States Tax Court
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 1988
- University of Scranton, B.A., Philosophy, magna cum laude, 1985
Associations
- Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
- Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers
- Judicial Independence Committee, American College of Trial Lawyers 2021
- Lawyers Advisory Committee, Judicial Council of the United States Court of Appeals for The Third Circuit, 2022-present
- Pennsylvania Innocence Project, Board of Directors
- Mediator, United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 2002-present
- Hearing Committee Member, Disciplinary Board of Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 2008-2014
Speaking Engagements
- “SCOTUS Update: An Extraordinary Term”, OGC University, 2022
- “The Third Branch Held,” USC Gould School of Law, March, 2021
- “A SCOTUS Review and Implications for Pennsylvania”, OGC University, 2021
- “The 2020 Pennsylvania Presidential Election Litigation”, 2021 Schemel Forum, University of Scranton
- “Recent Federal Actions and Their Impacts on the Keystone State,” OGC University, 2019
- Invited witness for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Investigating Grand Jury Task Force, December, 2017
- “White Collar Criminal Defense: It’s Not Just for the Federal Practitioner Anymore,” Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, November, 2014
- “Strategies for Spanning the eDiscovery Divide,” Masters’ Series, Philadelphia, May, 2012
- Training on “Trafficking in Human Beings,” United States Embassy-Cyprus, April, 2012
- “The American Experiment: Religious Freedom,” University of Portland, April, 2008
Honors
- Named in Top 100 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, 2011-2020
- Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent,® Peer Review Rating
- Top Rated Lawyer in White Collar Criminal Defense Law by American Law Media and Martindale-Hubbell
- Named to City & State Pennsylvania’s 2022 Law Power 100 list
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