Danielle Hawkes

Danielle is a partner of The Salt Lake Lawyers, a litigation firm that works in criminal, divorce, and civil litigation in Utah. Danielle received her law degree in 2010 from the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law. She is a board member of the ACLU of Utah.

Danielle frequently speaks regarding LGBT rights and legal strategies. In 2015 she spoke in front of approximately 200 Utah judges giving a legal update on LGBT issues at the Utah Judicial Institute. She was asked to return and give a similar talk to the Utah Justice Court Judges at their conference in 2017.

In 2017 she was ranked as the top 10 under 40 in Utah by the National Academy of Family Law Attorneys. In 2016 she was named to Utah’s Legal Elite by Utah Business Magazine as  well as a Mountain States Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine in 2016 and 2017.

Danielle currently serves as the vice-president of the board of directors for the ACLU of Utah and she is also a member of the Family Law Executive Committee of the Utah State Bar.

After graduating from law school Danielle served a one-year fellowship in Washington DC with Georgetown Law and the Law Students for Reproductive Justice working in women’s and immigrants’ rights with the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.

Danielle served as the student coordinator for the Guadalupe Legal Clinic, a low income legal clinic, and was a co-founder of Rainbow Law, a free legal clinic focusing on LGBT law in Salt Lake City, and as the president of OutLaws, S.J. Quinney’s queer student group.

She also served as a legal intern at the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah (ACLU of Utah) and worked as a law clerk for Strindberg & Scholnick, LLC, an employment discrimination law firm.

Upon graduation from law school, Danielle received the Outstanding Law Graduate of the S.J. Quinney College of Law Award from the National Association of Women Lawyers and a runner up award from the National LGBT Bar Association.

Before attending law school Danielle lived in São Paulo, Brazil for one year as a Rotary exchange student, served as an intern at the Brazilian embassy in Washington, D.C., and worked as a senior business analyst in the insurance industry.