Meet Daniela! OJD's 2025 Fall Extern!

Hello everyone, my name is Daniela Hernandez-Gil (or Dani, for short), and I am excited to join the Office of the Juvenile Defender this fall. I am currently a second-year law student at Duke University School of Law, where I nurture my passion for youth defense, cultural competency, and decarceration.

I came into law school knowing that I wanted to be a juvenile defender. I previously worked for the Office of the Public Defender of the 8th Judicial Circuit in Florida and Wake County’s Public Defenders office, where I worked exclusively with their juvenile defense teams (shoutout to those incredible attorneys!).

Afterward, I obtained a master’s in Latin American Studies, with a focus on Crime, Law, and Governance, and developed my internship thesis on gaps in Legal Aid for undocumented migrants facing housing insecurity, domestic violence, and driver's license suspension, and how this affected their respective families. 

I look forward to helping (and learning from) youth defenders across the state. If you’d like to reach out, you can email me here.

Fun facts about Dani:

-  She is originally from Miami, FL, but wishes to reside in North Carolina after she passes the bar. 

-  She volunteers at Durham’s Animal Protection Society in her free time.

-  She is fluent in Spanish and English.