Meet Attorney Daniel Shaffer

Dan Shaffer was born and raised in the Midwest the oldest son of a farmer and a teacher. His first jobs were walking crops, selling sweet corn and putting up hay. He was educated in public school and participated thoroughly in sports such as football and wrestling. While he excelled in these activities he is most proud of his recognition for good sportsmanship.

Dan attended several midwestern colleges before graduating from the University of Iowa with a liberal arts degree with an emphasis on Social Work and English. He spent over a decade working with troubled youth in Eastern Iowa before returning to college and law school.

Dan attended and graduated from Southern Illinois School of Law. During his time there he worked for a local Criminal Defense Attorney on state and federal cases involving fraud, drug distribution, murder and vehicular homicide.

Following law school Dan headed west to take the bar exam in Colorado. While awaiting the results of that exam he poured and textured concrete in the foothills of Boulder, CO. Upon passing the bar Dan was privileged to have the opportunity to work for the Colorado Public Defenders Office. This experience gave him the time and opportunity to begin trying cases before juries.

Dan has invested a great deal of time and expense into developing his trial practice. In 2010 he attended and completed a two-week trial institute at the National College of Criminal Defense, Macon, Georgia. Dan has tried over 75 cases to juries in Western Colorado. He has represented thousands of persons before Courts all over Western Colorado in federal and state cases ranging from simple civil matters to first degree murder.

Dan is a member of a number of professional organizations advocating for the rights of the accused, civil rights of all persons and supports his peers often acting in an advisory capacity on matters such as ethics and trial practice.

While representing persons accused of criminal conduct Dan began investigating the civil rights abuses of the same people. After some deliberation he began taking on smaller federal civil matters beginning with a claim against the City of Delta and its Police Department for the unlawful sale of a car without due process. Dan has also successfully sued Mesa County for similar misconduct. He has expanded his civil rights practice to include wrongful death and jail malpractice claims. He looks forward to becoming a moving force on the Western Slope in the accountability of local governments and its actors in representing plaintiff’s civil rights.

While Dan has a varied and diverse background, one thing remains true in that he has a keen sense of injustice no matter the situation and finds creative and imaginative methods for remedying those wrongs. He invites challenges that many lawyers shy away from as he believes these challenges are the cornerstones of his continued dedication to justice.