Dana Pagan is a proud Georgia native. She received her B.A. in Criminal Justice magna cum laude from the George Washington University and her J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law. While in law school, Dana served as a law student defense attorney for juveniles charged with crimes, worked as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for abused and neglected children in Family Court, and was a co-founder of the law school’s Project Ayuda immigration clinic which still thrives today.

She began her legal career as an Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia where she worked solely on cases involving individuals diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness, developmental disabilities, or both. She then became an Assistant Solicitor for the Solicitor General of the City of Atlanta where she prosecuted city ordinance violations and traffic offenses. Dana then served as an Assistant Solicitor and Deputy Chief Solicitor-General in the Gwinnett County Solicitor’s Office from 2012-2018 where she prosecuted a range of crimes including domestic violence, possession of marijuana, theft charges, DUI, misdemeanor sex offenses, and other misdemeanors.  While in the Gwinnett County Solicitor's Office, she served as the founding and lead prosecutor for the Gwinnett County Veterans’ Intervention Program (now the State Court Veteran's Court) and served as a prosecutor for both the Gwinnett County DUI Court and Gwinnett County Mental Health Pre-Trial Diversion Program.  Dana now serves as a defense attorney for State Court Veteran's Court.

Dana joined the law firm of Crawford & Boyle in 2019 focusing her practice on criminal defense and domestic relations cases. She is involved in the community having served as a member of the State Bar of Georgia’s Disciplinary Panel; serving as President of the Gwinnett County Public Schools Law, Public Service, and Education Advisory Board; is involved with the Gwinnett County STRAP Program; and is a 2019 graduate of Leadership Gwinnett.  She has appeared on CourtTV as a contributor multiple times discussing various criminal cases across the United States.