Danielle Hesse is a senior associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She practices in the Firm’s Trials and Litigation Practice Groups.
Danielle has handled a broad range of cases at all stages of litigation, including trade secret disputes, consumer class actions, employment disputes—including wage and hour, classification, and discrimination claims—breach of contract, cybersecurity, real estate matters, and law firm defense. She has vast experience with all aspects of pre-trial discovery, motion practice, negotiating favorable settlements for her clients, and she excels in taking cases to both jury and bench trials.
Danielle has prepared dozens of fact witnesses to testify at deposition and trial, and she has extensive experience working with technical and damages experts on critical reports and testimony. Danielle has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers from 2023-2025.
Danielle’s representative matters include:
- Securing a total denial of trade secret misappropriation claims for a top mortgage servicer after six-week arbitration;
- Securing broad preliminary injunction in DraftKings’ trade secrets and noncompete lawsuit against the former head of its VIP business (DraftKings Inc. v. Michael Hermalyn (D. Mass. 2024));
- Reaching highly favorable settlement for one of the largest tech companies in the world in wage and hour employment dispute;
- Winning $27 million jury verdict and $10 million punitive damages verdict for real estate company against oil company defendant in breach of contract case after month-long jury trial*
Danielle maintains an active pro bono practice focused on domestic violence and immigration matters. She was awarded the Frank Wheat Memorial Award in 2024. Representative matters include:
- Securing voluntary dismissal with prejudice and mandatory safety measures of federal Hague Convention case on behalf of domestic violence victim and her children;
- Securing immigration benefits for multiple clients seeking asylum;
- Assisting domestic violence victims with DVRO paperwork.
Danielle earned her law degree in 2017 from the UCLA School of Law, where she earned the Masin Family Academic Excellence Gold Award in Cybersecurity. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and English & Creative Writing from Emory University in 2013, where she was a member of the Political Science National Honor Society, Pi Sigma Alpha, and was the Writing Editor of Alloy Literary Magazine.
Danielle is a member of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice law before the United States District Court for the Central District of California, the Northern District of California, the Southern District of California, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
*Representations prior to joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
Capabilities
- Trials
- Appellate and Constitutional Law
- Class Actions
- Intellectual Property
- Labor and Employment
- Law Firm Defense
- Litigation
- Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Data Innovation
- Tech and Innovation
- Technology Litigation
- Trade Secrets
- Transnational Litigation
Credentials
Education:
- University of California, Los Angeles - 2017 Juris Doctor
- Emory University - 2013 Bachelor of Arts
Admissions:
- California Bar