Firm News

Capes Sokol is pleased to announce that we have welcomed Danielle M. Durban back to our firm’s Business & Corporate Transactions, Entertainment & Media, Intellectual Property and Real Estate Groups.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dani back to Capes Sokol. Our colleagues and her clients all agree that she is a joy to work with and her positive energy is infectious,” said Sarah J. Luem, Chair of Capes Sokol’s Business and Real Estate practice groups. “She is a brilliant lawyer who provides creative, but practical, advice to her clients. We feel very fortunate to have her back at Capes Sokol.”

Dani began her professional journey at Capes Sokol in 2017 as a summer associate and continued working with the firm as a law clerk throughout her 3L year. In 2018, she graduated with her law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law and joined Capes Sokol as an associate. She also serves as an adjunct professor at Washington University Olin Business School and has been a freelance graphic designer for over a decade.

In 2021, she left the firm to pursue an in-house counsel role at an international advertising conglomerate. After over a year in such a role, Dani realized she missed the diversity of work and collaboration a firm of Capes Sokol’s size provides.

“After learning that I would be rejoining Capes Sokol, a client texted me: ‘I hear you’re returning home.’ And that’s truly what it feels like,” said Dani regarding her return. “Being back at the firm where I started my career is not only exciting because of all the incredible people — attorneys and clients — I get to work with again, but also because of all the brilliant new attorneys and clients that have become part of the Capes Sokol family since I left. As Dorothy from Wizard of Oz so wisely realized: ‘There’s no place like home.’ And that’s precisely where I am now.”

As a lawyer, Dani regards herself as a creative problem-solver. She gets excited about building solutions that are tailored to her client’s business, making sure that they get exactly what they need for their business to thrive.

Having experience as a graphic artist and web designer, Dani knows how important it is to understand her client’s vision and translate it into reality. That’s why she takes the time to understand their business goals, mission, and values before offering any solutions. It’s not enough for her just to know how the law works; she wants to make sure it works for her client’s business, too.

Dani has been able to apply this approach in both the legal world and the design world—and she loves seeing how happy clients are with their legal outcomes when they feel like they’ve gotten exactly what they need from their lawyer.

Learn more about Dani here.