Danielle O'Bannon (JD '99) Appointed Public Rights Division Chief Assistant Attorney General at California Attorney General's Office

Pepperdine Caruso Law alumna Danielle F. O'Bannon has been appointed chief assistant attorney general for the Public Rights Division at the California Attorney General's Office. O'Bannon was appointed by California attorney general Rob Bonta, effective January 3. 

From the California Attorney General's Office:

Danielle began her career at the Department of Justice as an intern in the Tort and Condemnation Section in Los Angeles in 1999.

Before returning to the Attorney General’s Office in 2007, Danielle was a partner at Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard, and Smith, LLP where she litigated complex cases, including commercial, personal injury, wrongful death, products liability, food-borne illness, asbestos, toxic tort, trade libel, business interruption, and construction site actions.

Since 2018, Danielle has served as the Senior Assistant Attorney General (SAAG) for the Tort and Condemnation Section. As SAAG, Danielle directed the legal work of the section in defending departments, and employees in civil actions brought in federal and state courts for personal injury, wrongful death, property damage, civil-rights claims and inverse condemnation actions; in addition to prosecuting matters relating to the acquisition of real property for public purposes under the state’s power of eminent domain. Danielle also managed the section’s $24 million budget.

From 2012 to 2018, Danielle was a Supervising Deputy Attorney General in the Correctional Law Section, where she oversaw some of the section’s high-profile complex class-action cases on behalf of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and high-level executive branch officials. As a deputy, Danielle handled numerous civil-rights actions, including deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, due process, and use of force cases.

Danielle received her bachelor’s degree in economics with a minor in business administration from Santa Clara University. She received her juris doctorate degree from Pepperdine University School of Law.