Daniela Ibarra is an associate attorney at Pennington Law. She graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in May 2020 earning her Juris Doctorate. She was licensed to practice law in October of 2020. She is fluent in Spanish and has experience working with Spanish speaking clients.
Daniela was born in El Paso, Texas but spent more of her time living in the Rio Grande Valley. She attended high school in San Benito, Texas and graduated in 2014. Within three years, she earned her B.S. in Criminal Justice with minors in legal studies and Spanish. She graduated summa cum laude in 2017. During her undergraduate studies, Daniela participated in the Law School Preparation Institute which helped strengthen critical thinking skills and ability to analyze cases. Daniela also interned at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) in Edinburg, Texas. During her time with TRLA, she gained experience in managing cases and translating legal documents along with communicating with clients and explaining complex legal issues. After some exposure to child custody issues, she decided she wanted to go into family law.
During law school, Daniela has taken courses in negotiation, capital punishment, legal writing for litigators, criminal procedure, advocacy, domestic violence, evidence, and corporate governance. The summer after her first year of law school, she interned at the Travis County Attorney’s Office where she reviewed DWI evidence for trial and gained exposure to the prosecution side of the criminal court system. She also interned at the Hays County District Attorney’s Office where she conducted research and prepared evidence to be used in trial. Both of those experiences have furthered her interest in working in litigation and with individual clients. She had the opportunity to observe and work with cases that range from DWI to capital murder.
Additionally, Daniela was a student-attorney in both the Domestic Violence and Criminal Defense Clinics at the University of Texas. At the Domestic Violence Clinic, Daniela represented survivors of domestic violence through all stages of litigation, advocating for her clients in protective order, parole, and child custody cases. At the Criminal Defense Clinic, Daniela conducted hearings, examined witnesses, argued before judges, and negotiated with prosecutors to obtain favorable dispositions for her clients.
Daniela is a family law and criminal defense attorney. She enjoys working closely with clients and their families to make a positive difference in their lives. Coming from a family that immigrated to the United States, she understands the importance of providing competent bilingual legal assistance to clients. She understands first-hand the frustration that comes with a language barrier and firmly believes that should never affect your legal case. She understands that clients want the best outcome because it will affect the most important parts of their lives: their freedom, their family, and their future.
