Attorney Profile

David W. Berglund is Senior Partner and founder of Berglund & Johnson.

David has handled many different types of cases in his career including matters involving family law, business, personal injury and criminal cases. He decided to limit his practice to personal injury and product liability and formed the Berglund & Johnson Partnership with Dan Johnson in 1982. During his career, David has tried over 100 jury trials and hundreds of non-jury trials. He has obtained multimillion dollar verdicts and settlements in cases involving defective products, airplane crashes, vehicular rollovers, elder abuse and auto accident cases.

Serious product defect and negligence cases hold a special attraction for David because he feels it is advocacy at its best—the consumer versus the corporate business/political system. His compassion for the clients he represents is often reflected when he takes a difficult case that no other attorney would touch, simply because he is sympathetic to the client's situation and has a desire to seek justice for them. Dave has fought hard for his clients against major automobile manufacturers, government agencies, insurance companies and other corporate giants.

Dave grew up in Michigan and served as an officer in the Michigan State Police after being in the US NAVY. After discharge, he moved his family to California where Dave joined the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department. Dave was intrigued by courtroom proceedings and decided to enroll at Southwestern University Law School where he graduated cum laude. While in law school, Dave worked as a Superior Court Clerk for Judge Parks Stillwell, in San Fernando and Los Angeles, where he observed countless trial lawyers in action. Being a Court Clerk gave Dave invaluable experience-watching and learning from the variety of lawyers that appeared before Judge Stillwell. This experience, combined with over 30 years of his own practice, has provided Dave with the quality of trial advocacy that few possess and which is admired by his peers.

David and his wife, Penny, have three grown, married sons, Randall, Gregory and Steve, who reside in California. David lives an active life, engaging in many sports with his sons including snow skiing, SCUBA diving and sport fishing. One of his favorite avocations is flying his Piper Saratoga which he utilizes in his legal practice by being available to clients at any general aviation airport in California.

Over the years David has served many organizations in the Christian community including Van Nuys First Baptist Church, the Simon Greenleaf School of Law as Chairman of the Board, Christian Legal Society, San Fernando Valley Prayer Breakfast, Los Angeles Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, Christian Businessmen's Committee (CBMC), and Church on the Way Servants Council. He continues to serve on the board of World Impact, an inner-city ministry with schools, camps and church planting across this Nation. He has also been a seminar speaker at CBMC's Regional and National conventions.

David belongs to the American Bar Association, State Bar of California, Los Angeles County Bar Association, San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles and California, and is a former President of the Christian Legal Society, Los Angeles Chapter. Consumer Attorneys of California has awarded him Certificates of Recognition for his experience in personal injury cases and as a trial lawyer. He was nominated "Trial Lawyer of the Year" for Los Angeles County as a result of a multimillion dollar jury verdict from a defect causing an airplane crash causing death and serious injuries. He was also a board member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles and the California Consumer Lawyers Association.

Dave has spoken at many seminars at the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles. He is an active proponent of good government who has served on the Board of the San Fernando Valley Business and Professional Association (SFVB&P) and on the SFVB&P committee that evaluates all political candidates, including judges, running for offices in the San Fernando Valley.