The Hon. Daniel T. K. Hurley (Ret.) was a district judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He was nominated to the bench by former President Bill Clinton on November 10, 1993, for a seat vacated by the Hon. James Carriger Paine. His nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 10, 1994, and he received his judicial commission the following day. Hurley assumed senior status on February 4, 2006.
Prior to his nomination, he was a judge for the 15th Judicial Circuit Court in Palm Beach County since 1986. Serving as his second stint on the Circuit Court, Hurley had previously served on its bench for two years beginning in 1977. In between that time, he was a judge for the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal (1979 to 1986) but decided to return to the state court after realizing he disliked the isolation of the appellate bench.
Before beginning his judicial career, Hurley worked as an assistant state attorney for the Office of the State Attorney for the 15th Judicial Circuit (1975 to 1977) and was an assistant county solicitor for Palm Beach County (1973 to 1975).
He received a bachelor’s degree from Saint Anselm College in 1964. Hurley then completed a J.D. at George Washington University Law School in 1968.
After graduating from law school, he began his legal career as a law clerk to the Hon. John H. Pratt with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (1968 to 1969) and the Hon. Roger Robb with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1969).
Hurley was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, to a family of Irish descent. In middle school, he determined to become an ordained Roman Catholic priest and later attended St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida. After a year at seminary, Hurley decided on a career change which led him to attend law school in Washington, D.C.