Überblick
Daniel (Dan) T. Pascucci is a trusted and internationally recognized advisor in complex cross-border asset recovery, fraud investigations, and high-stakes litigation. He leads sophisticated enforcement strategies with a unique combination of technical skill and commercial insight to help clients recover assets to which they are entitled.
Dan has a proven history of recovering assets that have been fraudulently laundered offshore and hidden in both international and US privacy and tax havens. With a deep understanding of the intricate challenges faced by creditors and claimants, he has led multinational teams through highly sensitive investigation and litigation efforts to enforce judgments and arbitration awards across international borders.
Dan uses curated enforcement tactics that often make the difference between finding an asset and merely tracing its path. He has an enviable track record of leveraging a combination of litigation, business, communications, and political strategies to optimize the speed and completeness of client recoveries. Multinational companies, financial institutions, and litigation finance funds value Dan’s innovative methods and regularly engage him on complex asset recovery litigation and prefunding diligence.
Having handled dozens of complex arbitrations under both domestic and international rules, Dan is also well-versed in alternative dispute resolution procedures. As global coordinating counsel in the enforcement of a high-stakes cross-border arbitration, he developed a multiprong enforcement strategy that built the pressure to secure a $2.9 billion settlement payment to his client.
Companies across industries also seek Dan’s representation in unfair competition, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, and fraud cases, crediting his long history of successfully handling bet-the-company commercial disputes. In addition, Dan has argued groundbreaking cases before state and federal appellate courts, including as lead counsel on a precedential appeal before an en banc panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Referenzmandate
- As global coordinating counsel in the enforcement of a complex cross-border arbitration, secured a $2.9 billion settlement from a multinational corporation after leveraging strategic pressure tactics*
- Led a global investigation to enforce a Singapore arbitration award against Philippine debtor entities. Successfully developed the investigation strategy and factual record to identify the global asset footprint, including significant assets veiled behind a Cayman trust, of the debtors, related entities, and billionaire founder, which resulted in filing enforcement litigation in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY). Served as lead counsel for SDNY litigation through trial, culminating in the defendants agreeing to a $300 million cash settlement shortly after the close of evidence*
- Served as lead trial counsel for a Taiwanese creditor in a complex civil RICO case involving claims against 34 defendants. Successfully defeated more than 30 motions to dismiss and managed millions of pages of written discovery, including processing and analyzing hundreds of gigabytes of data, more than 40 depositions on two continents, and more than 120 discovery disputes before two court-appointed special masters. Defeated summary judgment and in limine motions, resulting in a favorable settlement at the commencement of trial*
Litigation and appeals
- Served as lead counsel in a non-dischargeability action in a US bankruptcy court, obtaining a judgment of non-dischargeability against the defendant company’s CEO based on findings of fraud and alter-ego liability*
- Served as lead counsel for a private investment fund defrauded by a scam Forex platform. Counseled the fund manager through the federal investigation and successfully litigated a forfeiture case against the US government and secured a summary judgment ordering the government to turn over 100% of forfeiture funds to the client and reimburse attorneys’ fees*
- In a court of appeal, secured the reversal of the trial court’s denial of an anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) motion filed on behalf of a municipal client, defeating a lawsuit brought by a local developer that alleged breach of contract based on the political actions of elected officials*
- Defended a Hong Kong-based electronics manufacturer in a multidistrict antitrust class action litigation by 31 US states alleging illegal price fixing. Successfully negotiated on behalf of the client a complete dismissal with no contribution to claim funds, while the other parties paid billion-dollar settlements*
- Served as lead counsel for a major telecommunications carrier in a groundbreaking case that applied Section 253 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 for the first time to enjoin a city from implementing excessive regulatory barriers to deploy a wireless communications network*
- Served as lead counsel for a major telecommunications carrier in dozens of district court cases under Section 332 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, successfully reversing the citing decisions of city and county government agencies that denied the deployment of cellular network systems*
Arbitrations
- Represented an international claimant in a multiyear arbitration before the International Centre for Dispute Resolution and American Arbitration Association regarding the breach of an international sales agreement. Obtained an award and judgment of more than $21,000,000, including all damages sought plus attorneys’ fees and interest*
- Successfully prosecuted an alter-ego arbitration. Navigated a complex array of obstructive discovery tactics to recover documents from offshore shell companies. Obtained an order from a US bankruptcy court lifting the stay on arbitration and remanding the case to tribunal following the defendant’s bankruptcy filing. Obtained a positive finding of alter-ego liability against the CEO of the defendant corporation and a judgment of more than $26,000,000*
- Represented an inventor of technologies utilized in laser eye surgery in an arbitration of claims of breach of royalties by the manufacturer of surgical devices. Successfully negotiated a payment of more than $15,000,000 in royalties on the first day of arbitration*
- Represented the developer of a real-time operating system in a complex arbitration – including a 21-day hearing – of claims of copyright infringement in an emerging area of law governing the copyrightability of application programming interfaces*
*Matter handled prior to joining McDermott Will & Schulte.
Auszeichnungen
- Benchmark Litigation, Litigation Star, 2025
- Best Lawyers in America, Intellectual Property Litigation, 2016-2025; Commercial Litigation, 2016-2025; Mass Tort/Class Actions – Defendants, 2016-2023
- The Recorder, California Trailblazer, 2020
- San Diego Daily Transcript, Top Influential Business Leader, 2017
- San Diego Super Lawyers, Business Litigation, 2013-2017, 2019-2020, 2022-2025
- San Diego Super Lawyers, Intellectual Property Litigation, 2013-2017, 2019-2020, 2022
Mitgliedschaften
- The International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators, fellow
- Litigation Counsel of America, fellow
- International Bar Association, Litigation Committee and Arbitration Committee, member
- California Bar Association, member
- San Diego Bar Association, member
- Federal Bar Association, member
Qualifikation
Education
Pepperdine University, JD, cum laude, 1993
Fordham University, BA, 1990
Admissions
California
Courts / Agencies
Supreme Court of the United States
US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
US District Court for the Southern District of California
US District Court for the Central District of California
US District Court for the Northern District of California
US District Court for the Eastern District of California