Vanessa C. Deniston is the Managing Trial Lawyer of the Employment Team at the Dolan Law Firm, PC, where she leads a dynamic group of attorneys devoted to advancing justice for California’s workers. A seasoned trial attorney, she represents individuals in cases involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower violations, and wrongful termination under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), along with wage and hour, whistleblower, and related claims. Ms. Deniston also handles catastrophic personal injury matters, sexual assault, and elder abuse cases, applying a trauma-informed approach that combines fierce advocacy with empathy and human connection. 

Recognized as the Marin Trial Lawyers Association’s 2025 Trial Lawyer of the Year, Ms. Deniston’s courtroom work reflects her philosophy that justice demands both skill and personal integrity. Her legal practice is grounded in tenacity, grit, and compassion, values that define her relationships with clients and colleagues alike. She believes effective advocacy requires courage, creativity, and a deep understanding of the human experience behind every case.

Record Verdicts and Trial Successes

In December 2024, Ms. Deniston secured a $17.2 million jury verdict in Guzman et al. v. Morning Star Trucking Company, LLC, et al., following an eleven-week trial in Sacramento Superior Court, one of the largest verdicts in Sacramento County in recent years. Working alongside lead counsel Christopher Dolan, she second-chaired the case on behalf of an injured young mother, achieving a verdict that included $6 million in punitive damages after the jury found the corporate defendants acted with malice and reckless disregard for safety with zero percent comparative fault on the part of her client. The win earned Ms. Deniston and her team recognition as the 2025 Trial Lawyers of the Year by the Marin Trial Lawyers Association (MTLA). 

Ms. Deniston has obtained numerous six- and seven-figure settlements against some of the nation’s most powerful corporate defendants, including Uber Technologies, Kaiser Permanente, Chevron, Wyndham Destinations, and Walt Disney. Her mastery of complex employment and tort litigation, combined with her ability to humanize even the most technical legal arguments, has made her a sought-after trial strategist and trusted co-counsel throughout California.

Professional Integrity and Reputation

Ms. Deniston’s unwavering ability to serve as a forceful, ethical, and compassionate advocate has earned her the respect of attorneys on both sides of the aisle. Known for her meticulous preparation, relentless advocacy, and creative legal strategies, she has developed a reputation as a litigator who wins cases through integrity and skill rather than aggression or posturing. The results she’s achieved through strategic foresight and meticulous preparation, along with her distinguished professionalism, have led many defense attorneys to refer her their most complex plaintiffs’ cases, a testament to her credibility, candor, and exceptional command of complex legal issues. Judges, opposing counsel, mediators, colleagues, and arbitrators alike recognize and respect her unwavering

Leadership and Professional Involvement

Beyond the courtroom, Ms. Deniston plays a leading role in shaping the future of plaintiffs’ advocacy in California. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC), the CAOC Board of Directors, as well as CAOC’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee and Women’s Caucus, where she promotes greater representation, mentorship, and systemic equity within the practice of law. She also leads the Dolan Law Firm’s in-house Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee as Executive Director, developing firmwide initiatives to cultivate belonging, cultural awareness, and inclusion across practice areas.

Ms. Deniston is an active and influential member of the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC), San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association (SFTLA), American Association for Justice (AAJ), California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA), Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF), and Alameda County Trial Lawyers Association (ACCTLA). She regularly speaks on panels addressing trial skills, litigation ethics, and diversity in advocacy, and has authored publications examining evolving trends in employment law and trauma-informed advocacy.

Philosophy and Approach

At the heart of Ms. Deniston’s practice is a deep respect for the attorney–client relationship. She believes advocacy must be both strategic and human—driven by facts and law but inspired by empathy and moral conviction. She invests deeply in understanding her clients’ lived experiences, ensuring they are empowered and informed at every stage of the case. Her approach blends grit with grace, producing a balance between relentless legal pursuit and authentic compassion. To Ms. Deniston, success is measured not only by record verdicts or settlements, but by the lasting difference her advocacy makes in the lives of her clients and in the systems she seeks to reform.

Recognition and Service

Ms. Deniston has been selected as a Northern California Super Lawyers Rising Star every year from 2018 through 2025, an achievement earned by fewer than 2.5% of attorneys statewide. She also serves as a volunteer coach for the San Francisco YMCA Youth Mock Trial Program, mentoring students on courtroom advocacy and the ethics of trial practice. 

A graduate of Suffolk University Law School (J.D.) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (B.A., magna cum laude), Ms. Deniston joined the Dolan Law Firm in 2017. Since then, she has become a cornerstone of the firm’s trial practice and a leader in its mission to achieve justice for those most impacted by power, privilege, and systemic inequity.

Personal Pursuits 

Ms. Deniston is an avid domestic and world traveler with a lifelong interest in other cultures, histories and diverse lived experiences. She adores books and while her book-buying greatly outpaces her book reading, she can often be found behind the pages of the latest literary masterpiece, eager to discuss it with the next person that should mention it. Ms. Deniston has a deep love for California’s wild spaces. She can regularly be found with a pack on her back and dirt under her fingernails, hiking through the Eastern Sierras, the Trinity Alps, Desolation Wilderness, and Yosemite National Park. Her strong impulse to create makes her a lover of the arts, whether its painting, drawing and sewing, or curating costumes and intricate set design for her next holiday-themed party.