Vail Gardner

Vail grew up in Miami, the land of beaches and Miami Vice, in the 80s. She earned her undergraduate degree with honors at the University of Florida and continued at UF for law school at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She graduated with honors in 1997.

Following law school, Vail returned to Miami, where she practiced complex commercial litigation and employment law for six exciting years with a large international firm.

In 2004, Vail moved to Durham, which she hopes to never leave. For six years, Vail had the privilege of clerking for the Honorable P. Trevor Sharp and the Honorable Wallace Dixon in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District Court of North Carolina as the Court’s career pro se law clerk.

Vail was fortunate to have the opportunity to take time to raise her two high-energy children. During her time away from practice, she remained active in her children’s school community. Vail now spends much of her spare time keeping up with her active 12-year-old son and keeping one step ahead of her teen daughter. She also enjoys spending time exploring Durham and cooking for friends and family.

Vail finds meaningful ways to share her skills and passion with her community. She volunteers her time to Wills for Heroes, which provides no-cost estate planning documents to first responders and their families. She also works with law students to provide living wills to cancer patients through the Duke Law School Cancer Pro Bono Legal Project.

Vail is licensed in North Carolina and Florida.