Dan Cracchiolo has been a leader among Arizona lawyers for more than 50 years as a top commercial litigator and general trial lawyer.  He is first and foremost a counselor and advocate for his clients, putting their long-term interests as paramount.  Dan is also a sought-out “lawyer’s lawyer,” regularly consulted by other lawyers, and is engaged as a mediator well known for coming up with creative solutions to difficult problems.

Born in Detroit and raised in Arizona, Dan served as a 1st lieutenant in the Air Force from 1954 to 1956 after attending the University of Arizona, where he received his law degree in 1952. He was admitted to the Arizona bar in 1952 and to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1957. After serving as a Maricopa County deputy attorney from 1952-1954 and 1956 -1957, he went into private practice, co-founding the firm of Burch & Cracchiolo in 1970, which has grown from two to nearly 50 lawyers today.

 

Dan has received many accolades for his role in the development of the law community in Arizona.  Dan’s leadership in law led The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law to name its law library in his honor.  In 2005, Dan received an honorary degree of Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the University, including his commitment to advance diverse initiatives in the Colleges of Medicine, Humanities and Law.  In 2010, the Maricopa County Bar Association recognized Dan as a member of its Hall of Fame. He is listed in two categories in Best Lawyers in America as one of the nation’s leading Personal Injury Litigators for both plaintiffs and defendants and he has been listed in every issue of Southwest Super Lawyers since its inception in 2007.  He is also listed in the recently formed Arizona's Finest Lawyers.

 

Dan is a member of the Arizona Bar Association, the Maricopa County Bar Association and the American Bar Association.  He is a member of the Phoenix Association of Defense Counsel, American Board of Trial Advocates, American Judicature Society, International Association of Defense Counsel, and International Academy of Trial Lawyers.  Dan is a regent of Brophy College Preparatory, a member of the board and past president of COMPAS (Combined Metropolitan Phoenix Arts and Sciences), member of the Advisory Board of Homebase Youth Services and member of the Board of Directors of ChildHelp USA.

 

In addition to his leadership in law, Dan has been a leader in Arizona philanthropy through his role as Chairman and former CEO of the Steele Foundation.  In 1985, Dan’s longtime clients, Horace and Ethel Steele, funded the Foundation. After the couple’s deaths, Dan began building the Foundation’s assets and has grown the corpus three-fold.  To date, the Steele Foundation has awarded more than $50 million in grants to over 300 organizations and provides approximately $5 million each year to such beneficiaries as Steele Indian School Park, Barrow Neurological Foundation, Burton Barr Library, Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona Science Center, Desert Botanical Gardens, Virginia Piper Cancer Center, Heard Museum, and the Herberger Center.  The Foundation helped to create The Steele Pediatric Research Center at the University of Arizona, a medical research facility dedicated to the eradication and prevention of children’s diseases.  Other beneficiaries include religious educational institutions, the state universities in Tempe and Tucson, and health organizations throughout the state.