BIO:

I was born and raised in Gwinnett County and graduated from South Gwinnett High School. I received my B.A. in Criminal Justice from The George Washington University and my J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law.  While in law school, I became a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Guardian Ad Litem in Richland County, South Carolina.  During my service there, I worked on a variety of difficult cases involving a wide spectrum of participants ranging from infants to older teenagers, children with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness diagnoses, families in active homelessness crisis, criminally involved parents, parents and children with substance dependency, and cases involving severe parental abuse and neglect.  As a result of my work, I was named the Richland County CASA Volunteer of the Year award in 2003. After graduating from law school, I began my legal career as an Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia before becoming an Assistant Solicitor for the Solicitor General of the City of Atlanta. My work in Washington, DC centered solely around individuals diagnosed with Developmental Disabilities, Severe and Persistent Mental Illness, or both.   From 2012 until the end of 2018, I served as an Assistant Solicitor and Deputy Chief Solicitor-General in the Gwinnett County Solicitor’s Office where I prosecuted misdemeanor crimes and served as the lead prosecutor for the Gwinnett County Veterans’ Intervention Program.  I entered private practice in January 2019 and began handling divorce, custody, adoption, and other family law issues soon thereafter.  Most of my cases are in Gwinnett, Walton, Barrow, Oconee, Jackson, Newton, and surrounding counties.

PHILOSOPHY

Having seen divorce and custody cases from many angles, my heart always breaks when the children get lost in the struggle.  My hope in every case is to reach a resolution that protects the children in the case and preserves as much of the relationship between their parents as possible because children deserve to have a life where they are not torn between their parents.  Being a divorced single-mom myself gives me a unique perspective on these issues.  I understand that children need to be heard and respected in these cases and deserve to have a competent, compassionate, and committed advocate to help them through their family’s case.  Thanks to my work as a CASA volunteer, my work in DC, and my work as a prosecutor for many years, I am not afraid to take on hard cases and enjoy working on cases involving military families, individuals with substance abuse, and individuals with mental illness challenges.  I do my very best to work efficiently in order to keep cases moving forward.  I respect all parties involved and expect the same in return.  My work as GAL is some of the most rewarding work I’ve ever done and feel that it gives my work as an attorney even greater purpose.

Office of Dana Pagan (Crawford and Boyle LLC) is located at:

  306 S. Hammond Drive, Monroe, GA 30655,