Overview
Dan Berman co-founded Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP (WSHB) in 1997 with three partners and a conviction that the defense bar was ready for reinvention. He serves as Executive Chairman of the firm and as Chief Executive Officer of WSHB Support Services, its newly formed management services organization. Over nearly three decades of leadership, Dan has guided WSHB from a two-office California startup to a national litigation defense firm with more than 550 attorneys and over 40 offices.
Dan brings more than 30 years of experience as a frontline litigator, having tried cases of every level of complexity for Fortune 500 corporations, mid-market businesses, and some of the world’s largest domestic and international insurance carriers. That experience gave him a precise understanding of where law firms waste time, lose money, and leave value on the table for clients.
He put that insight to work by creating portfolio-wide analytics that give clients real visibility into their litigation programs, including cross-matter spend, outlier identification, venue intelligence, and indemnity benchmarking. In 2026, he was named Legalweek Innovator of the Year.
Today, Dan sets the firm’s direction, keeps its vision aligned with client needs, and serves as trusted counsel to a select group of companies on high-stakes litigation strategy and program management. Day-to-day execution belongs to the exceptional lawyers he and his partners have spent 30 years recruiting and developing. His role is to make sure the whole system works and never stops improving.
As CEO of WSHB Support Services, Dan leads the management services organization (MSO) that provides non-legal operational infrastructure and support to the firm. Established with a strategic investment from Charlesbank Capital Partners, the MSO allows WSHB’s attorneys to focus on clients while the firm expands into new markets, strengthens its capabilities across practice areas, and invests in technology, including AI and data science. For clients, the result is stronger service, sharper insight into their litigation programs, and a firm built to support their needs wherever they operate.
Dan currently serves on the City of Hope National Insurance Industry Council Board of Directors, the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors, and the Palisades YMCA Board of Directors. He is an active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and has been named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s LA500 list of the city’s most influential people. He also teaches at the Litigation Management Institute at Columbia Law School and Loyola University Chicago School of Law, because changing an industry means investing in the leaders who will carry it forward.
Credentials
Education
- Loyola Law School (J.D., 1992)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (B.A., 1989)
Licensed to Practice in
- California
Newsroom
News
Community
Community Activities
- City of Hope National Insurance Industry Council Board of Directors
- Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors
- Palisades-Malibu YMCA Board of Directors
- YPO Santa Monica Bay Charitable Foundation Board of Directors
- CLM Advisory Board
- CLM Litigation Management Task Force Steering Committee
- California Building Industry Association Legal Action Subcommittee
Memberships
- Firm Chairman, Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP (2015 - Present)
- Managing Partner, Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP (2007 - 2015)
- Young Presidents' Organization Santa Monica Bay and Pacific Coast Gold Chapters (2009 - Present)
- Instructor at the Litigation Management Institute (LMI) at Columbia University and Loyola (Chicago) Law Schools
- Building Industry Association of Southern California
- Association of Southern California Defense Counsel (ASCDC)
- Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. (RIMS)
- Defense Research Institute (DRI)
