About Daniel R.
Daniel R. Hernandez earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois Chicago in 2016 after completing an undergraduate degree in Health Services Administration at Florida International University in 2011. His academic path combined an early interest in health systems with later legal training in Chicago courts and clinics. Those formative years included courtroom exposure and federal internships that shaped his early practice choices.
While still in law school he served as a judicial extern in 2014 for the Circuit Court of Cook County under Judge Meyerson. The following year he took a legal internship at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Those experiences gave him a practical view of both state court procedure and federal regulatory work. After earning his J.D., he joined Loevy & Loevy as an associate in 2016, where he handled litigation matters that broadened his courtroom experience.
In 2017 Hernandez moved into private practice and entrepreneurship. He co-founded Walczak Hernandez, P.C., and took on the responsibilities of a principal lawyer there. The new role put him in charge of client intake, case strategy, and firm operations at an early stage of his career. By 2020 he launched NextLevel Law, P.C. by Daniel R. Hernandez, Esq., serving as CEO and managing lawyer. The shift to leading his own firm marked a transition from supporting roles to business and practice leadership.
Hernandez has been active in bar and affinity organizations since shortly after law school. He is a current member of the Chicago Bar Association and has belonged to the American Bar Association since 2013. From 2017 to 2019 he served as Vice Chair for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the ABA Young Lawyers Division. He holds a regional leadership post in the Hispanic National Bar Association as Vice President for Region IX, a position he has held since 2019. He also chairs the LGBTQ Committee of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, a role he began in 2017.
Colleagues describe Hernandez as someone who blends litigation experience with community-oriented bar work. He has built a practice that draws on his courtroom background and his leadership in LGBTQ and Hispanic legal circles. He now leads NextLevel Law, P.C., where his practice centers on litigation and advocacy related to LGBTQ issues and matters affecting the Hispanic community.
