Darcy M. Goddard

Darcy is an experienced litigator, court-rostered mediator (https://tinyurl.com/3y68bcsz), and strategist.  She was also named 2023 Lawyer of the Year by the Utah State Bar.

Darcy has practiced since 2000 in the areas of civil rights, employment, personal injury, law enforcement and corrections, appellate, internal investigations, and legislative advocacy.  Prior to joining Strong & Hanni in October 2022, Darcy served as the appointed Chief Policy Advisor for the Civil Division of the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.  Before that, she was the Legal Director of the ACLU of Utah and an Assistant Attorney General to then New York-AG Andrew Cuomo.  She also spent several years at an AMLAW top 25 firm in NYC and a trial boutique in Colorado.

Immediately following law school, Darcy spent one year clerking for the Honorable David M. Ebel on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado.  Prior to law school, she lived and worked in Washington, D.C.

At Strong & Hanni, Darcy co-chairs the firm’s Government Practice Group and is a member of the Firm’s diversity committee.  In addition to her active litigation and mediation practices, Darcy provides training to public and private sector entities on a wide range of topics, including litigation skills, ethics, HR investigations, the First Amendment, and GRAMA.

Darcy is originally (mostly) from Boise, Idaho.  She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College in 1995 with a degree in Government and Ethics, and she received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2000.  She was a Notes Editor on the Virginia Law Review and a restaurant and movie reviewer for the student paper.  (Ask which one she liked more!)

Darcy is a proud single mom to her favorite human, Atticus (age 11), and is a decidedly less proud human parent to 1 dog and 3.5 cats.  Her favorite pastimes are English and Australian murder mysteries, crossword puzzles, killing plants, her TARDIS-themed Little Free Library©, Pokémon Go, and the Secret Art of Dr. Seuss.

Darcy is admitted to practice in Utah, New York, and Colorado, and is a member of the bars of the Supreme Court of the United States and the Second, Third, Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeal.

Professional Memberships and Recognitions:

• Utah Supreme Court Ethics and Discipline Committee
• Aldon J. Anderson Inn of Court
• Board Member, Statewide Association of Prosecutors and Public Attorneys, 2020-2022.
• Organizer/Emcee, Utah Prosecution Council, Fall Civil Practice Conference, 2017-2022.
• Chair, two-year Legislative Interim Committee addressing mental health and substance use treatment for incarcerated individuals, 2018-2019.
• Women Lawyers of Utah
• Salt Lake County Bar Association
• Utah State Bar Litigation Section
• Utah State Bar Government and Administrative Law Section