Don H. Schaefer

415.705.0410 | dschaefer@gnhllp.com | Senior Counsel

For the past 33 years, Mr. Schaefer has primarily defended products liability, personal injury, and construction defect cases. He spent the majority of his legal career putting out fires and mitigating damages on his clients’ behalf. In February 2022, Mr. Schaefer joined Goodman Neuman Hamilton LLP as senior counsel.

While with Bennett, Samuelsen, Reynolds & Allard (1991-1998), Mr. Schaefer obtained scores of dismissals for unjustly named defendants, including a summary judgment motion (later upheld by the First Appellate District) in a multi-million-dollar asbestos case which became the cornerstone for no less than 40 other such dismissals. He second-chaired the Chavers v Gatke Corporationtrial, which, following appeal, resulted in permanently eliminating tenuous “market share liability” and “conspiracy” claims against automotive component parts manufacturers.

From 1999 to 2018, Mr. Schaefer worked as an independent contractor for approximately two dozen Bay Area law firms defending an estimated 700 products liability, toxic tort, and construction defect claims.

Before law school Mr. Schaefer worked as an auto technician performing mechanical, collision, and classic car restoration work. When he discovered his lawyer colleagues knew little about automobile mechanics, in 2003 he created Auto 101 for Lawyers, a hands-on, State Bar approved, 9.25-unit CLE course geared (no pun intended) toward attorneys defending automotive products liability cases. In addition to Auto 101 for Lawyers, Mr. Schaefer has taught Real Estate Law, Legal Research and Writing, Contracts Writing and Introduction to the Law. As a former auto mechanic, Mr. Schaefer has the utmost admiration and respect for those hard-working tradesmen who work with their hands and thus thoroughly enjoys defending them against spurious claims.