Bio

Daniel Girard founded the firm in 1995 to offer dedicated, professional representation to everyday Americans. Dan believes that individuals who work hard and play by the rules deserve the same focused, skillful representation enjoyed by corporations, banks, and insurance companies. Under Dan’s leadership, Girard Sharp has become one of the most respected and experienced class action law firms in the United States, consistently delivering outstanding results in challenging cases. Dan has been appointed by federal courts to lead class actions brought under a range of federal and state laws, often involving investments and consumer financial services matters. Dan currently serves as lead counsel in the GWG Holdings Securities Litigation in the Northern District of Texas, the Wells Fargo J&J Investments Litigation in the District of Nevada and the PFA Insurance Marketing Litigation in the Northern District of California. He recently served as counsel for investors in the Woodbridge Investments, Jay Peak EB-5 Investments, Peregrine Financial Group and Provident Royalties cases, all of which involved parallel bankruptcy and criminal or regulatory proceedings against investment promoters. He has led successful class actions in such areas as securities, corporate governance, telecommunications, unfair competition, federal statutory rights, predatory lending, sexual abuse, product liability, and constitutional law. In addition to individuals, Dan’s past and present clients include municipal and state employee retirement systems, public employee unions, financial institutions, property and casualty insurers, and NYSE companies. Dan has been privileged to serve the federal court system through his work on federal rulemaking committees. He was appointed by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to the United States Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules in 2004 and served on the Civil Rules Committee through 2010. Chief Justice John G. Roberts appointed Dan to the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure in 2015 and reappointed him to a second term in 2018. Dan’s article, “Limiting Evasive Discovery: A Proposal for Three Cost-Saving Amendments to the Federal Rules,” 87 Denver University Law Review 473 (2010), proposed several rule amendments that were ultimately adopted in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34(b)(2). Dan serves as a member of the Council of the American Law Institute, where he chairs the Audit Committee and serves on the Membership and Development Committees. He has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America since 2012, and as a Northern California Super Lawyer since 2007. He is a longstanding member of the American Bar Association, Section on Business Law, Corporate and Business Litigation Committee.