With more than 30 years spent representing
plaintiffs in personal injury cases, Daniel P. O’Toole has earned his
reputation as one of New York’s premier trial attorneys. Driven by his
deep compassion for clients and fierce devotion to justice, Mr. O’Toole seeks
to help victims whose lives have been devastated by serious accidents.
His total lifetime verdict and settlement amount exceeds $1 billion recovered for clients, and he has been the lead attorney on numerous
landmark and record-breaking cases, including the largest reported
settlement in a personal injury case in New York history ($65,000,000).
As
an experienced trial attorney, Mr. O’Toole has handled cases involving
construction accidents, motor vehicle accidents, premises liability,
wrongful death, negligent security, and industrial accidents. Some of
his notable results include:
- $110,174,972 jury verdict for a cyclist who was paralyzed after being hit by a falling railroad beam, the largest catastrophic injury jury verdict in New York
- $65,000,000 settlement
for a Brooklyn man who was struck by falling debris from a subway
construction site, the largest catastrophic injury settlement in New
York
- $22,500,000 settlement against the State of New York for a driver injured in an accident caused by icy roadways
- $20,181,000 verdict in the Court of Claims, the second largest personal injury verdict in the history of that court
- $13,000,000 wrongful death settlement for an auto accident victim
- $12,250,000 settlement for two injured workers in an elevator accident
- $11,500,000 settlement for a laborer injured by a defective saw
Mr. O’Toole’s dedicated advocacy and insightful legal practices have led him to be recognized by Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers®, American Trial Lawyers, Irish Legal 100, the Brehon Law Society, and the Institute of Jewish Humanities. In 2026, he was named Best Lawyers’ New York City Lawyer of the Year for Personal Injury – Plaintiffs.
Outside
the office, Mr. O’Toole serves as the Co-Chairman of the New York State
Trial Lawyers Association Labor Law Committee, which is dedicated to
preserving and enacting laws that protect worker safety. Mr. O’Toole is
also committed to charity work, having fundraised for various
organizations, including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, One
Mission, HomeStart, and more. Together with his colleagues at Block O’Toole & Murphy, he has been instrumental in raising over $10,000,000 for pediatric cancer research and treatment at St. Jude.