Otto L. Haselhoff is a trial lawyer licensed in California and New York focused on high stakes litigation. Mr. Haselhoff is often brought into cases by other law firms as their trial counsel to litigate and try their cases. His areas of practice include personal injury, wrongful death, complex products liability, automotive, motorcycle and truck negligence, governmental liability, premises liability, general negligence, and bad faith litigation. The use of highly qualified expert witnesses, cutting-edge animation technology and dramatic courtroom presentation of evidence – together with Mr. Haselhoff’s ability to connect with, and inspire, jurors to make just awards – has been key to his clients’ success.
Results for Mr. Haselhoff’s clients include six (6) monetary awards* over $10 Million ($10,000,000)*, over forty-eight (48) monetary awards over $1 Million ($1,000,000)*, and over one hundred (100) monetary awards in excess of $250,000*– totaling well over $160 Million* in verdicts and settlements in the past few years. Some specific awards* include the following: $21.1 Million ($21,100,000)* award for a “dart out case” – against a $100,000 offer; $13.5 Million ($13,500,000)* in a contested liability trucking/products liability case; $13 Million ($13,000,000)* for an automobile products liability/crashworthiness case; $12 Million ($12,000,000)* for a tire failure/crashworthiness auto defect case (co-counsel); $11 Million ($11,000,000)* for an intersection accident with mild TBI (policy limits); $10.5 Million ($10,500,000)* for a complex products liability case–against an initial $1 Million offer; $6.25 Million ($6,250,000)* for a victim of a negligent transportation services provider/delivery service; $3.8 Million ($3,800,000)* gross verdict in a hotly contested motorcycle crash case – tried twice – against a $300,000 offer; $3.4 Million ($3,400,000)* settlement for a governmental liability/products liability cross-over case; $3.2 Million ($3,200,000)* award for a non-disabling spinal injury/bicycle accident; $2.6 Million ($2,600,000)* in San Diego for a dog bite to the wrist (policy limits); $2 Million ($2,000,000)* for a broken ankle in San Diego (policy limits); and a $1.8 Million ($1,800,000)* gross verdict for an 84 old victim of a trip and fall in a Target store – against a $10,000 offer.
In addition to general serious injury and wrongful death claims, Mr. Haselhoff also handles products liability claims against vehicle manufacturers including: crashworthiness claims, the failure to equip vehicles with collision avoidance technology features, seat back failure cases, airbag defect cases, battery fire cases, and the failure of tractor trailer manufacturers to equip their trailers with side under-ride protection to name a few. He has also handled several newsworthy cases including the wrongful death/drowning case against actress Demi Moore in 2017 that was (confidentially) settled during litigation. He has also handled cases involving intellectual property, copyright infringement and the misuse of images/likeness/photos. These cases included representing Playboy Playmate Victoria Silvstedt in a misuse of photo case and a copyright infringement case against Paramount Pictures involving the John Travolta/Lisa Kudrow Film “Lucky Numbers”.
Mr. Haselhoff has been named a “Super Lawyer” every year from 2007 through 2025, was a Finalist for the coveted “Trial Lawyer of the Year” Award, has been awarded the Top “AV” rating (Preeminent) from the lawyer’s directory Martindale Hubbell, and was awarded a 10/10 (highest) rating by AVVO.
[*Notice: Every case is unique. Awards include verdicts, settlements, judgments, and/or arbitration decisions. Awards mentioned herein were dependent on the specific facts of the case and results will likely differ if based on different facts].