About David
David Dastrup built his legal foundation at Pepperdine University, where he earned a J.D. and pursued advanced training at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. At Straus he completed a Master of Dispute Resolution, studying negotiation, mediation, arbitration and trial advocacy. Those years gave him classroom instruction and practical exercises in contested hearings and negotiated settlement techniques.
He began his legal career in municipal settings. Early stints as a law clerk for the City of Los Angeles in 2008 and for the City of Glendale in 2010 exposed him to public practice and local government matters. Those roles involved research, drafting ordinances and assisting on administrative hearings. In 2011 he moved into private practice at the Law Office of Michael Smith, then joined a DUI and traffic criminal defense practice in 2012, gaining direct courtroom experience defending clients charged with driving offenses.
Over time he established his own practice, opening the Law Office of David Dastrup and operating offices in Torrance and Long Beach. He handles matters arising across California and appears in state courts. The practice has focused on criminal defense arising from traffic-related incidents, including DUI cases, and the procedural work they generate: motions, discovery disputes, and negotiated resolutions that end cases without trial when appropriate.
His training at Straus continues to show in his approach. He draws on mediation and negotiation techniques in pretrial settings and on trial advocacy skills when cases proceed to court. That combination means he prepares both to push contested issues at hearings and to pursue negotiated outcomes when they serve a client’s interests.
Dastrup holds memberships in the North Orange County Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the California DUI Lawyers Association. Those affiliations keep him connected to developments in criminal law and to colleagues who practice in similar areas. He has balanced courtroom time with client counseling, and his work often centers on explaining procedural options and likely outcomes to people facing stressful charges.
Clients come to him for work that often requires quick action: arraignments, bail matters, chemical testing issues and license suspension hearings. He staffs two Southern California offices to be accessible to people in the region. Today he leads the Law Office of David Dastrup and focuses his practice on DUI, traffic and related criminal defense matters in California.
