Danielle Waller Mitigation & Sentencing Services

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Danielle Waller, Mitigation Specialist

Dani Waller is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW); having earned two Master's Degrees. She has been working on capital cases since February 1, 2000. She has conducted social history investigations for over 30 clients facing the death penalty in various states. Dani has also conducted work at the Federal level.

Dani has provided training for others in the field of mitigation by lecturing at numerous conferences. She has also collaborated with the Center for Justice in Capital Cases at DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, Illinois.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

Undergraduate:

• Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois
• Bachelor of Arts, (May 1990)
• Major: Political Science

Graduate:

• University of Illinois, Springfield
• Masters of Arts, (December 1996)
• Specialty: Societal Politics

Graduate:

• University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
• Masters of Social Work (August 1999)
• Emphasis: Mental Health

Professional Licensure

Social Work

Licensed Clinical Social Worker #129272090

Professional

4/2005 – present

• Mitigation Specialist; Private Practice
• Springfield, Illinois

2/2000 – 4/2005

• Mitigator; Forensic Social Historian
• Death Penalty Trial Assistance Division of the Office of the State Appellate Defender
• Springfield, Illinois

1999

• Social Work Intern: Adult and Child Therapist
• Mental Health Centers of Central Illinois
• Springfield, Illinois

Lectures/Faculty

7/2008

• Death by Trial
  Mitigation Concepts
• Louisiana Public Defender’s Association
• Marksville, LA

11/2007

• Washington University Law: JD/MSW society
• What is Mitigation?
• St. Louis, MO

8/2007

• National Alliance of Sentencing Advocates & Mitigation Specialists: Specialized Skills Training
• Interviewing Techniques
• Chicago, IL

4/2007

• Kentucky Death Penalty Institute
• Telling the Client's Story of Life
• Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy
• Louisville, KY

3/2007

• Life in the Balance: Defending Death Penalty Cases
• Video Testimony with Non-English Speakers in Capital Sentencing
• National Legal Aid and Defender Association
• Dallas, Texas

11/2006

• The Death Penalty in Arkansas; Strategies for the Defense
• Trauma and Abuse
  Using Records to develop mitigation
• Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• Fayetteville, Arkansas

6/2006

• Clarence Darrow Death Penalty Defense College
• Small Group Leader & Presenter regarding Trauma and Abuse
• DePaul University College of Law: The Center for Justice in Capital Cases
• Chicago, Illinois

3/2006

• Life in the Balance: Defending Death Penalty Cases
• Interviewing Skills for Mitigation Investigation
• National Legal Aid and Defender Association
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

10/2005

• Defending Illinois Death Penalty Cases
• Death Penalty Investigation
• Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education
• Springfield, Illinois

6/2005

• Mitigation Trainer
• Mitigation training at DePaul University College of Law
• Chicago, Illinois

3/2005

• Defending Illinois Death Penalty Cases in 2005
• Telling your Client's story
• Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education
• Chicago, Illinois

6/2004

• 2004 Annual OSAD Death Penalty Seminar
• Mitigation Investigation & Demonstrative Evidence
• DePaul University's Center for Justice in Capital Cases Death Penalty Trial Assistance Division of OSAD Illinois Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers
• Chicago, Illinois

2/2004

• Defending Illinois Death Penalty Cases: Essential Know-How for Illinois Lawyers
• Record Collection and Exhibits
• Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education
• Chicago, Illinois

2/2003

• Defending Illinois Death Penalty Cases
• A Tag Team Approach to Plea Agreements in Death Penalty Cases
• The Office of the State Appellate Defender
• Carbondale, Illinois

12/2002

• Private Training for Jenner & Block Law Firm
• Social History Investigation through Records Collection
• Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education & The Office of the State Appellate Defender
• Chicago, Illinois

9/2002

• Defending Illinois Death Penalty Cases: Essential Know-How for Illinois Lawyers
• Social History Investigation through Records Collection & Working with Your Client's family
• Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education
• Springfield, Illinois

Articles

Waller, Danielle & Robert Heilbronner (in press) Role of the Neuropsychologist on the death penalty team (in print). In Denny & Sullivan (Eds.) Clinical Neuropsychology in the Criminal Forensic Setting. New York: Guilford Publications.

Waller, Dani (2004). Mitigation Investigation: Tracking Down the Client's Story Through Record Gathering (Chpt. 4). In A. Lyon (Ed.), Investigation Manual. Chicago, Illinois: Center for Justice in Capital Cases & Death Penalty Trial Assistance Division of the Office of the State Appellate Defender.

Waller, Dani (2002). Leveling the Playing Field. NASA Notes (Vol. 9, No. 1): Washington, DC: National Association of Sentencing Advocates.