Daniel C. Kim, Esq.

In the fall of 2007, I didn’t start law school for money or fame; I went to law school because I wanted to serve those in need more effectively. My journey of serving others began as an undergraduate research assistant to a Social Work professor at the University of Michigan studying mental health care access for children of inner city Detroit. This experience led me to a job after college as a social service worker serving vulnerable and disadvantaged communities in Los Angeles and Orange County, California, where I was responsible for helping my clients navigate through the complexities of various public assistance programs.

Wanting to become a more effective advocate for those in need, I decided to pursue law. After attending law school as a recipient of Public Interest scholarship, I found an opportunity to serve others and our nation as a solider and lawyer. I joined the U.S. Army and began my legal journey as a prosecutor in Louisiana, where I handled misdemeanor and felony-level offenses such as larceny, desertion, drug use, child exploitation, and sexual assault. I also served as an instructor of search and seizure law and use of force for military and civilian police officers and as a Special Assistant United States Attorney before a federal magistrate judge in the Western District of Louisiana.

After my time as a prosecutor, I served as a legal advisor to military commanders in Afghanistan and Hawaii. Handling a variety of complex legal issues ranging from international humanitarian law, Congressional inquiries, ethics compliance, and internal investigations of senior official misconduct, I became an expert in effective client communication by distilling and translating complex legal concepts into plain language and courses of action that were clear, timely, and executable for my clients.

In 2016, I became a defense counsel in the Army and discovered my passion for trial litigation and working one-on-one with my clients to zealously tell their stories in court. This is when I learned that effective legal representation did not start with just knowing well the law, the facts of the case, or the elements of a crime. It began with genuinely knowing and understanding my clients— their background, their goals, and their life stories. Criminal defense was not a legal transaction but an attorney-client relationship; and like any other relationship in our lives, it required trust, communication, and commitment. An effective criminal defense had to be client-centered.

As a trial defense counsel, I represented clients facing charges ranging from assault and rape to premeditated murder and terrorism. Through relentless pretrial investigation and preparation, I was fortunate to help my clients get their charges dismissed outright, reduced to much less severe ones, or fully acquitted after a contentious jury trial. As a defense appellate attorney, I fought for my clients’ rights by relentlessly researching, drafting, and filing appellate briefs that raised issues such as improper jury instruction, prosecutorial misconduct, and jury bias. One of the most significant experiences as a defense counsel was serving on the 9/11 death penalty case in the Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions, arguably the longest and most consequential criminal litigation in the American history.   

In 2024, I left active-duty military service to settle down in the DMV area with hopes of becoming a public defender. But life had a different plan. Through a veteran defense lawyer in Northern Virginia, I was introduced to other defense lawyers in the area who were part of the nation-wide progressive prosecutor movement to reform America’s criminal justice system. I joined the the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, which was led by a former Innocence Project defense lawyer and former criminal defense lawyers from across Northern Virginia.

As a progressive prosecutor, I handled over 450 misdemeanor and felony cases ranging from DWI, Assault and Battery, and Hit and Run to Grand Larceny Auto, Malicious Wounding, and Rape. I also served as the secondary prosecutor for the Behavior Health Docket for defendants with severe mental illness and substance use disorder. My goal was not to simply “win” cases but to find and address various underlying, root causes of the crimes we see in our community. Not only did I excel in pretrial preparation and litigation but also in relentlessly pursuing meaningful alternative ways of case resolution through treatment, education, and service-based diversion programs.

All the life lessons and skill sets I had acquired as a social service worker, U.S. Army JAG officer, state prosecutor, and defense counsel converged together in 2026 as I founded my own criminal defense firm to return to what I believe is my true calling and passion in life: to serve my community and those around me as a criminal defense trial lawyer. My goal is to provide trust-based, client-centered, principles-driven legal representation to clients and to help them navigate through the most complex legal challenges during the time of their greatest need.

I believe in empathy, authenticity, and integrity in everything I do for my clients. I am here to not simply represent you but to genuinely listen to you, to understand your goals, and to walk with you as we fight relentlessly together for your rights, dignity, and best possible outcome.