Danielle Hawkes

Danielle is the owner of Hawkes Family Law, a litigation firm focused only on family law issues. Danielle received her law degree in 2010 from the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law. She serves on the Family Law Executive Committee for the Utah State Bar (in leadership positions, including Chair Person, 2019-2022). She also serves in leadership for the Lawyers Helping Lawyers committee for the Utath State Bar. 

Danielle frequently speaks regarding family law in Utah as well as LGBT rights and legal strategies. In 2021-22, Danielle developed and advocated for an inaugural year-long series of family law education sessions for judges around the state. Once approved, she created a sub-committee of the Family Law Executive Committee and led that committee through the full implementation of the series. 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 and then again for the judges in 2020. In 2021, she gave a diversity presentation to all of the Family Law Commissioners at their annual retreat. She has given similar presentations for several other family law groups in the state. She has ranked as a top 10 under 40 in Utah by the National Academy of Family Law Attorneys. She has also been named to Utah's Legal Elite by Utah Business Magazine as well as a Mountain States Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine for several years. Danielle has served on the board of the Family Law Executive Committee, at the Utah State Bar, including sitting as secretary, vice-chair, and chair for one (1) year each. She also serves on the board of Lawyers Helping Lawyers at the Utah State Bar. Danielle served a six (6) year term on the Board of Directors for the ACLU of Utah, which included one year as vice-chair and two years as the chair of the Board.

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.

During law school, Danielle was a staff member of the S.J. Quinney College of Law’s Journal of Law and Family Studies where she published two notes. The first, Locking up Children: Lessons from the T. Don Hutto Family Detention Center, explores the emerging trend of detaining immigrant families, including very young children, in private for profit detention facilities. The second, Elective Surgery: When Parental and Medical Opinion Supersedes a Child’s Right to Choose, discusses discretionary medical procedures for children including hysterectomies for physically disabled children, cosmetic surgery for children with Down’s syndrome, cochlear implants, reparative therapy, and psycho-altering drugs. In addition, she competed in the Pace National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition where she won two best oralist awards.

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.