A native of New Bern, North Carolina, Daniel graduated from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1989 after graduating from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia. He then attended Cumberland School of Law of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, earning a Juris Doctorate Degree in 1992. During his third year of law school, Daniel was elected and served as President of the Student Bar Association. Daniel returned to Raleigh to begin his career as a sole practitioner for six years in the areas of real property transactions, criminal defense and civil litigation before joining the Raleigh office of Stubbs & Purdue in 1999.  After practicing in bankruptcy court for a year, he returned to solo practice until 2016, when he and current law partner, Ian Richardson formed Barker Richardson, PLLC. From 1999-2009, Mr. Barker was certified by the North Carolina State Bar - Board of Legal Specialization as a Certified Specialist in Real Property Law, Residential Transactions. Daniel is a member of the North Carolina State Bar, the North Carolina Bar Association, Wake County Bar Association and Tenth Judicial District Bar and the Wake County Academy of Criminal Trial Lawyers. Daniel has more than twenty-four years of experience in the private practice of law, and is admitted to practice in all North Carolina State Courts as well as the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Mr. Barker has served on the boards of several non-profit entities, including serving as a Trustee for The Montessori School of Raleigh, where he was Vice President in 2009-10, as well as a Founding Board Member of The Childs Advocate (now a part of Legal Aid of North Carolina). In addition, Mr. Barker currently serves on the Communications/Technology Committee of the Wake County Bar Association. In December 2017, Daniel was elected to serve on the Board of Directors for the Wake County Bar Association and Tenth Judicial District Bar for a three-year term 2018-2020. In July 2018, Daniel began service on the 4All Service Day and Privacy and Data Security Committees of the NCBA for 2018-2019.