Dana M. Grimes

Criminal Defense Attorney

San Diego Criminal Defense Attorney Dana Grimes was the 2018 President of CASD (Consumer Attorneys of San Diego). She was the 2017 Trial Lawyer of the Year, an honor awarded by the San Diego Criminal Defense Bar Association (CDBA). She is a graduate of University of San Diego, School of Law (2007). She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2004, where she analyzed hate crimes at the Los Angeles Police Department.

Dana has tried jury trials in state court and in federal court including murder, rape, wire fraud, mortgage fraud, foreign exchange fraud, importation of a controlled substance, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and many others. She has also made hundreds of other court appearances on felonies and misdemeanors, in the San Diego Superior Court and the U.S. Federal District Court for the Southern District of California and the Southern District of New York (Manhattan). She serves on the Criminal Justice Act panel for the Southern District of California.

In 2017, Dana was voted Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Criminal Defense Bar Association of San Diego. In 2016, she was awarded an Outstanding Trial Lawyer Trial Lawyer Award, by the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego (CASD), for an acquittal in a federal 26 co-defendant multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud jury trial. In 2013, Dana was awarded the Judge David R. Thompson award, presented to just one outstanding trial lawyer each year at the Red Boudreau dinner, sponsored by the major trial lawyer organizations of San Diego County, for her dedication to the legal community and her commitment to the administration of justice. She has been recognized by her peers for many years in SuperLawyers.

Dana is the Editor-in-Chief of Trial Bar News, which has a readership of 1200 + San Diego lawyers and judges. In addition to writing articles on criminal law for the education of other lawyers, Dana gives presentations to other lawyers on criminal law at legal seminars. The topics that she has spoken about include Jury Voir Dire in Criminal Cases, Opening Statements, Cross Examination, and Criminal Restitution.

Dana has been admitted to practice law in the following courts: California Supreme Court; United States District Court, Southern District of California; and the California Superior Courts.