Biography
Mike Danko is a nationally recognized trial attorney who has recovered more than $1.5 billion for clients seriously injured or killed by corporate negligence. He is one of California’s leading aviation accident lawyers and one of the most experienced wildfire litigation attorneys in the country, having taken on Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison in cases spanning more than three decades, from the 1990s through the 2025 Greater Los Angeles wildfires.
Mike has tried cases in courts across the United States, from Hawaii to Massachusetts. He is best known for taking on powerful, well-financed defendants — aircraft manufacturers, engine overhaul facilities, and utility companies — and for his willingness to take cases to verdict when settlement terms are inadequate.
“By holding wrongdoers accountable, a lawsuit can take the profit out of harming others. It can deter wrongdoing in the future and change for the better the way corporations do business.”
Aviation Accident Litigation
Mike Danko is one of the few plaintiff’s attorneys in the country who is also an experienced pilot. He holds a jet type rating and has logged nearly 5,000 flight hours across fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. He currently owns and operates multiple aircraft.
That firsthand experience means Mike approaches aviation cases from the pilot’s perspective, understanding how aircraft systems fail, how decisions are made under pressure, and how manufacturers and maintenance facilities can cut corners in ways that are invisible to non-pilots but obvious to someone who has spent thousands of hours in the cockpit. That knowledge has proved decisive in cases against engine manufacturers, overhaul facilities, and aircraft operators.
Mike has handled aviation accident cases involving commercial airliners, turbine and piston general aviation aircraft, helicopters, experimental and amateur-built aircraft, air ambulances, and tour operators. He has handled cases arising from crashes of the smallest ultralight all the way to the Air France Concorde. His aviation verdicts and settlements include:
- $51 million settlement for the victim of a small plane crash
- $14.9 million jury verdict against an engine manufacturer for injuries a passenger sustained in the crash landing of a single-engine aircraft
- $23 million settlement for the victim of a helicopter crash
- $2.9 million jury verdict against an overhaul facility for a pilot injured in a helicopter crash
- $12 million settlement against a maintenance facility for a helicopter crash
- $10 million jury verdict for the widow of a pilot killed in a helicopter crash
- $32 million wrongful death settlement for a foreign plane crash
- $2.3 million settlement for a fatal air ambulance crash
- $1.55 million settlement for a woman injured in a plane crash at Lake Tahoe
- $9.75 million settlement for a family injured in a tour helicopter crash on the island of Kauai
Mike also publishes the Aviation Law Monitor at aviationlawmonitor.com, a resource covering legal developments in aviation accident litigation for attorneys and aviation professionals.
California Wildfire and Utility Fire Litigation
Mike Danko has been litigating utility-caused wildfire and explosion cases for more than 30 years — longer than virtually any other plaintiff’s attorney in California. He and his team have recovered over $1.5 billion for wildfire survivors.
His utility fire practice spans the full arc of California’s wildfire crisis: from early gas explosion cases against PG&E to the Butte Fire, the Camp Fire, the Dixie Fire, the 2017 North Bay fires, and, most recently, the 2025 Greater Los Angeles wildfires involving Southern California Edison. He has represented clients in cases that required pursuing PG&E and SCE all the way to jury verdict — an outcome that most attorneys are unwilling or unable to achieve.
Mike is one of a small number of plaintiff’s attorneys who has actually taken a California utility to a successful jury verdict on a wildfire or utility fire claim. That willingness to try cases rather than accept inadequate settlements has consistently produced better outcomes for his clients and has made him one of the attorneys other lawyers call when the stakes are highest.
His utility fire verdicts and settlements include:
- Confidential settlement for a 70,000 acre utility wildfire
- $20 million settlement for a pedestrian injured by a utility explosion
- $2.9 million jury verdict for a PG&E gas leak and explosion
- $23 million settlement for victims of a PG&E gas explosion
Other Catastrophic Injury and Wrongful Death Cases
Beyond aviation and utility fires, Mike handles catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases involving dangerous products, explosions, burn injuries, spinal cord injuries, and traumatic brain injuries. Representative results include:
- $10 million confidential settlement for a woman injured by a dangerous consumer product
- $50 million court judgment against a candy manufacturer for the wrongful death of a child
- $2.2 million court judgment against a state entity for a bicyclist injured on a public road
- $11 million confidential settlement for a woman injured in a fuel-fed fire
- $9.8 million jury verdict against a snow resort for a woman injured in a snowboarding accident
- $5 million settlement for a university lab explosion
- $9.5 million jury verdict against the State of California for the family of a bicyclist killed in a crosswalk
- $2.6 million settlement for a policyholder whose insurance company wrongfully refused to pay $225,000 in medical bills
- $10 million court judgment against a large developer for the breach of a promise to deposit $400,000 into purchase escrow
Why Other Attorneys Refer Cases to Mike Danko
A significant share of Mike’s cases come through referrals from other attorneys. Many lawyers — including experienced litigators — are excellent counselors and negotiators but do not have the resources, expert relationships, or trial experience required to take a catastrophic injury case to verdict. When those attorneys have clients with high-stakes claims involving aviation accidents, utility fires, wrongful death, or complex product liability, they call Mike.
When attorneys refer clients to Mike, they are entrusting him with their clients and their own professional reputations. Mike brings the same level of preparation and advocacy whether the case came directly from a client or through a professional referral. Danko Meredith welcomes co-counsel arrangements and attorney referrals.