Daniel W. Ballesteros

Shareholder and Chair - Business Litigation

55 South Market St., Suite 900
San Jose, CA 95113

408.947.2416 | 408.287.2583
dan.ballesteros@hogefenton.com
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Main Bio
Affiliation & Awards
Representative Experience
Speaking & Publications

Main Bio

Practice Overview

Dan Ballesteros chairs Hoge Fenton’s Business Litigation practice group and has represented clients in real estate and business disputes from the firm’s San Jose office since 1989. An aggressive litigator, Dan builds leverage for clients in disputes arising from the purchase, sale, leasing, financing, ownership, and use of real property, representing businesses, LLCs, partnerships, and individuals through all phases of litigation, arbitration, and mediation. He became a Hoge Fenton shareholder in 1997 and served as the firm’s Managing Shareholder from 2013 to 2024.

Dan has represented brokers, sellers, and buyers in nondisclosure claims involving defective conditions, property and business owners facing serial ADA litigants, lenders in wrongful foreclosure actions, and members of LLCs and partnerships in governance and profit disputes. Recent matters include defending a hotel owner against ADA website accessibility claims, resolving a $6.5 million lender guarantee dispute, and prosecuting a partition action involving a 40-unit apartment building.

Dan became a Hoge Fenton shareholder in 1997 and has chaired both the firm’s Real Estate and Litigation departments, in addition to serving as Managing Shareholder from 2013 to 2024. He teaches trial advocacy and evidence at Stanford Law School and has taught real estate practice at Santa Clara University School of Law, and is a longtime advisor to the California Continuing Education of the Bar on real property law.

Practice Areas

Education

J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley
B.A., Public Policy, Stanford University

Admissions

California
U.S. District Court, Eastern, Northern & Southern Districts of California
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Affiliation & Awards

Professional Activities

Dan has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Real Property Law Section of the California State Bar. He has been an advisor to CEB on real property law publications and has served three terms as chair of the Santa Clara County Bar Association’s Real Property Law Section.

Dan teaches an evidence module course for the Stanford Law School Trial Advocacy program, has taught Real Estate Principles at De Anza College, and is a member of the American Inns of Court. San Francisco Magazine recently identified him as a “Super Lawyer” for the ninth year in a row.

Community Activities

Dan is pleased to serve on the Silicon Valley Campaign for Legal Services board of trustees. This charitable organization raises funds for eight organizations providing legal services to underrepresented local populations. Dan is also a member of the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame board; an organization created to recognize and promote excellence in local athletics.

He is also proud to have served on the board of trustees of the Mexican Heritage Corporation, a nonprofit committed to celebrating and preserving Mexico’s art and culture and host of the annual San Jose Mariachi Festival.

He has served as a member of the San Jose Downtown Association and is a founding member of the highly successful Downtown San Jose Tour. This event highlights real estate opportunities and successes in the core of downtown San Jose. For 22 years, Dan coached the highly decorated Lincoln (13) and Mountain View (9) High School Mock Trial Teams.

Awards

Best Lawyers in America, 2013-2027

AV Preeminent® (highest level of professional excellence) Peer Review

CV, BV, and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used by the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards, and policies.

Northern California Super Lawyers, 2007-2008, 2011-2026, an honor bestowed upon less than 5% of attorneys in California

Representative Experience

Recent Matters

Prosecuted partition action by sister against brother involving 40-unit apartment building
Defended buyer’s agent in claim by buyer for non-disclosure related to $14M purchase of unfinished spec home
Represented majority members of LLC against minority regarding governance and farming issues for 240 acres subject to Williamson Act
Defended limited partner and guarantor against $6.5M claim by lender
Defended former cleanroom tenant against action by landlord regarding condition of HVAC system
Prosecuted claims of the minority owner of a $20M retail mall against fraudulent majority owner
Defended Hotel owner against claims by serial ADA plaintiff, including website accessibility

Speaking & Publications

Articles and Speaking Engagements

Dan is a frequent speaker, having presented programs for CEB (California Continuing Education of the Bar), at the California State Bar Real Property Law Annual Retreat and the Santa Clara County Bar Association Real Property Symposium on such topics as evidence, disclosure obligations, partition actions, purchase agreements, arbitration, and mediation and the recovery of attorneys’ fees.

He has also taught programs on trial techniques at Stanford University Law School as well as real estate practice programs at Santa Clara University School of Law.

Dan has presented programs on defending claims by ADA serial plaintiffs to small business owners and the San Jose Downtown Association.

Dan regularly presents risk management seminars focusing on broker disclosure duties to real estate professionals. Dan has written articles on subjects ranging from recent developments to the statute of limitations in real estate cases to the recovery of attorneys’ fees in real property actions.