About Danielle G. Van
Danielle G. Van Ess built a legal trajectory that crosses classroom rigor and community work. She earned a B.A. from The George Washington University in 1994, studying Spanish language and literature, philosophy and women’s studies. She returned to Boston University School of Law for her J.D., completed in 1998. Two decades later she added an LL.M. in Taxation from the same school in 2021, concentrating on trusts and estates.
Her early professional roles put policy and training at the center of her day. In 2002 she served as a staff lawyer and lead trainer at the National Center on Full Faith and Credit. That post involved legal education and practical problem-solving on jurisdictional and enforcement questions. In 2007 she worked as an independent legal consultant for the Southwest Center for Law & Policy, a role that broadened her exposure to nonprofit legal practice and cross-jurisdictional issues.
Van Ess launched her own practice in 2008. She is the founding owner, lawyer and counselor at DGVE law, LLC. Running a small firm has required her to switch roles frequently: counselor, drafter, litigator when needed and manager. The firm listing identifies DGVE law, LLC as her principal office.
Professional associations and board service have been a steady part of her career. She has been involved with the Massachusetts Forum of Estate Planning Lawyers since at least 2010 and served in a sequence of officer roles: vice-president, president, immediate past president and most recently secretary from 2020 to 2023. Outside the forum she joined the Hingham Cemetery Corporation board of directors in 2019 and remains on that board.
Her academic and professional steps point clearly toward trust, estate and tax work. The LL.M. in Taxation, with its emphasis on trusts and estates, built on a practice that already addressed estate planning, probate and related tax questions. She is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and Virginia, which informs how she advises clients with ties across state lines.
Colleagues and clients know her for hands-on estate planning and for handling the tax mechanics that often accompany those matters. She balances transactional drafting with guidance through probate and fiduciary administration. Today she practices through DGVE law, LLC, continuing to handle trust and estate planning, tax matters, and probate administration.
