When you’re hurt by someone else’s wrongdoing, you deserve to be compensated. Period.
When you hire us, you get US — we don’t pass your file down to some entry-level lawyer you’ve yet to meet. We are committed to personally handling your case from beginning to end with our trademark professionalism, confidentiality, and a conscientious emphasis on YOU. Once we take your case and know your story, we work relentlessly to secure the justice you deserve.
Our commitment to you includes:
- Reviewing your case for free with no obligation to you
- Understanding the impact this case has had on you and your family
- Charging you nothing unless we win the case
- Bringing all of our expertise in order to obtain optimal justice
Dan C. Schaar
Dan is a trial lawyer who specializes in representing people in catastrophic injury or wrongful death matters. He only represents people. He does not represent corporations. He does not represent insurance companies. Raised in Rapid City, South Dakota, he left home and attended San Jose State University as a Division I soccer player.
After college, but before making the decision to attend Law School, Dan spent a number of years living and working on the Island of Grand Cayman. During that time, he was a PADI Master SCUBA Instructor and also earned his USCG 50 Ton Master Captains License, logging over 5000 SCUBA Dives and over 4500 hours at sea.
After returning stateside, he earned his JD from Santa Clara University, where he served as President of the Student Bar Association, and was also a member of the school’s Trial Team, which was limited to ten members. During law school, Dan had the opportunity to intern with the Santa Clara County Office of the Public Defender. Taking on the challenge of representing real clients, human beings, in a courtroom was a turning point for him, helping him realize his true purpose and calling in this profession.
With almost twenty years of courtroom experience, Dan’s results speak for themselves. He’s racked up numerous six, seven, and eight-figure verdicts and settlements. In his home county of Santa Cruz, California, of the 5 largest Plaintiff’s verdicts in the county’s history, Dan was lead trial counsel on 3 of them, including one of the largest verdicts in California history for an injured bicyclist ($6.7 Million). Dan’s practice extends beyond the Santa Cruz area as well, in 2024 he was part of a trial team that secured a massive $15 million verdict in Dallas, Texas for an undocumented worker who suffered third-degree burns over 40% of his body. He was also trial counsel on an an $18.5 million settlement for a nursing home abuse survivor in California. Dan always takes a personalized, empathetic approach to each and every one of his clients; he gets to know their stories personally, which helps him convey their losses in court and pursue the justice they deserve.
Dan thrives on a challenge. He’s often sought out for consultations on personal injury cases across the country, known for turning “unwinnable” cases into success stories. He travels the country with Nick and Courtney Rowley, as an instructor with Trial By Human.
A huge advocate of maintaining a proper work-life balance, so that he can provide the best representation for his clients, when he’s not at work, Dan loves spending time outdoors in the Santa Cruz area with his wife and kids. You’ll oftentimes find him in the water with his kids surfing or out riding bikes during the summer months, and up in the mountains snowboarding and skiing during the winter.
Eva Silva
Eva Silva, the Managing Partner of Schaar & Silva LLP, brings over 20 years of experience as a Plaintiff’s personal injury attorney to her role here at our firm. Eva has always had a desire to do things to the best of her ability, and to help people. After earning her undergraduate degree from California State University, Hayward (now California State University, East Bay), Eva earned her JD from Santa Clara University School of Law, graduating when she was just 23 years old, and passing the bar that same year. During a summer clerkship at a personal injury firm, Eva discovered her passion for helping people hurt by the negligence of others. Eva was moved by herclients’ stories of being injured, unable to work, with some pushed to the brink of homelessness in the increasingly expensive Bay Area—their lives changed or destroyed in a second due to someone else’s negligence.
After graduating from law school, Eva worked as a Plaintiff’s personal injury attorney for 13 years, before co-founding Schaar & Silva LLP with fellow attorney Dan Schaar in 2017. Eva is excited to be working with Schaar & Silva LLP, bringing along her experience with almost every aspect of injury law-second-chairing cases, helping shape juries, coordinating legal research and writing department, and opposing countless Motions for Summary Judgment, among other things.
Eva is a member of Consumer Attorneys of California, the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association, the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, and the Alameda Contra Costa Trial Lawyers Association. For the past several years, she has been recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star–an honor reserved for 2.5% of attorneys who are under 40 or who have been in practice for less than 10 years. In 2016 and 2017, Eva and her partner Dan Schaar were nominated for the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers’ Association’s Trial Lawyer of the Year award, and together share one of the largest personal injury verdicts to come out of Santa Cruz County.
When not at the office or in court, Eva enjoys spending time with her son and daughter. Her interests include cooking, baking, and card games with the kids. Eva enjoys getting to know every one of Schaar & Silva’s clients as a person with a unique story and fighting for their rights.
Jillian Sullivan
Paralegal
In her role as a paralegal at Schaar & Silva, Jillian Sullivan brings almost 15 years of experience in the legal field, including over ten years as a paralegal. She earned her undergraduate degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Corporate Finance from San Francisco State University.
Jillian has extensive experience preparing legal documents and court filings, responding to and preparing discovery requests, maintaining and updating client and case information, summarizing depositions, and supporting overall office operations. Her role includes managing administrative workflows, coordinating case materials, and ensuring compliance with court deadlines and procedures. She also provides comprehensive litigation and trial support, including organizing exhibits, preparing trial materials, and assisting attorneys throughout all phases of litigation and trial.
Prior to joining Schaar & Silva, Jillian worked as a legal assistant and paralegal at several Bay Area law firms, as well as for the City of Palo Alto.
Known for her meticulous attention to detail, strong organizational skills, and commitment to outstanding client service, Jillian plays a key role in keeping the firm’s cases and daily operations running smoothly.
