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Marquardt Law Firm: A Former Bexar County Prosecutor Who Ran the DA’s Protective Orders Unit, Now Doing Estate Planning

Not every San Antonio estate planning attorney comes up through transactional practice: Daniel J. Palmer began his legal career as a Bexar County criminal prosecutor, eventually serving as First Chair Prosecutor running the District Attorney’s Criminal Protective Orders Unit — conducting hearings before every elected Civil District Court Judge in Bexar County — before shifting his practice toward estate planning, probate, and elder law at Marquardt Law Firm. This profile is part of Awesome Attorneys’ coverage of San Antonio probate attorney options.

At a Glance

Origin & Background

Palmer, a San Antonio native, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin before earning his J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law, where he spent a summer studying in Europe under U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts at the Institute on World Legal Problems in Austria. He began his legal career as a Bexar County criminal prosecutor, developing trial skills across a wide range of criminal cases before advancing to First Chair Prosecutor of the DA’s office’s Criminal Protective Orders Unit — a role requiring him to conduct hearings before every elected Civil District Court Judge in Bexar County. After leaving the DA’s Office, he worked at a multi-practice-area firm with statewide Texas offices before joining Marquardt Law Firm, where his practice now centers on estate planning, probate, and juvenile defense.

San Antonio Estate Planning Attorney Practice Concentration

As a San Antonio estate planning attorney practice, Marquardt Law Firm handles wills, trusts, real estate matters, and elder law alongside Palmer’s probate work. His prosecutorial background in Protective Orders litigation gives him direct courtroom experience relevant to estate matters that turn adversarial — contested guardianships or will contests, for example — beyond the transactional planning work that makes up the bulk of estate planning practice.

Track Record

Specific case-count or outcome statistics were not independently available in the sources reviewed for this profile; Palmer’s public record consists primarily of his prosecutorial trial history and his current estate planning client reviews. Estate planning and probate outcomes depend heavily on the specific facts, assets, and family circumstances of each matter, and past experience does not predict or guarantee a result in any future case.

Client Voice

Client reviews describe Palmer as concise, patient, and thorough. One reviewer who worked with him on an estate plan described him as explaining “everything I needed to know,” calling him “fantastic” for estate planning specifically. Another, describing a will and trust prepared for their children, wrote that Palmer is the person to call for someone who wants an advocate handling their family’s planning “with skill and integrity.” Firm colleagues Todd Marquardt and Brittany Lastition were also credited by name in reviews for making clients feel valued. No pattern of negative reviews or bar complaints was found in the sources reviewed.

Beyond the Courtroom

Palmer’s academic study under Chief Justice John Roberts at the Institute on World Legal Problems reflects an early interest in comparative and international legal study distinct from his eventual domestic estate planning focus.

Recognition

Board certification disclosure: this profile did not confirm Texas Board of Legal Specialization certification in Estate Planning and Probate Law for Daniel Palmer in the sources reviewed, and does not apply “specialist” language as a result. His professional credentials rest instead on his prosecutorial trial record and his firm’s strong, consistent client review base, which this directory treats as meaningful but distinct from formal board certification.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Texas does not impose a state estate or inheritance tax, though federal estate tax can still apply to larger estates above the federal exemption threshold. Elder law matters, a stated focus of this firm, often intersect with guardianship proceedings under the Texas Estates Code, which generally require clear and convincing evidence that a proposed ward cannot adequately care for themselves or manage their property before a guardianship is imposed — a protective standard given how significantly a guardianship restricts personal autonomy. Palmer’s prosecutorial background in protective order litigation is also directly relevant when family disputes over an incapacitated relative’s care turn adversarial, a scenario general estate planning practices without litigation experience may be less equipped to handle.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Marquardt Law Firm’s clearest differentiator, through Daniel Palmer specifically, is a genuine adversarial-litigation background rarely found paired with estate planning work — First Chair prosecutorial experience running a specialized protective orders docket before every Bexar County Civil District Court judge — combined with consistently detailed, credible positive client reviews for his current estate planning practice.

The honest trade-off is that board certification was not confirmed for Palmer in the sources reviewed, so clients specifically prioritizing TBLS credentialing should weigh that against his prosecutorial trial background and strong current client reviews, which are real differentiators but distinct from formal board certification.

Methodology & Sourcing

This profile was compiled from Daniel Palmer’s Lawyers.com, Justia, and Cornell LII attorney directory profiles, Marquardt Law Firm’s Birdeye and Yelp review pages, and Palmer’s State Bar of Texas listing. Board certification status was checked against available public attorney biography and directory pages; none was confirmed. Statutory references were checked against Texas’s lack of a state estate tax and the Texas Estates Code’s clear-and-convincing-evidence standard for guardianship proceedings as generally published. No case results, credentials, or quotes were invented; client statements referenced above are drawn from the firm’s public Lawyers.com and Yelp review pages.

Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Marquardt Law Firm, P.C. prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placements clearly labeled as such, but no payment of any kind determines inclusion in, or the content of, this editorial profile. This article is for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and Marquardt Law Firm or Awesome Attorneys.