Dan Polese joined LPHS after clerking at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. He received his J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was the administrative editor of the Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal and participated in moot court and mock trial.

Before beginning his career in law, Dan attended the United States Naval Academy and earned a B.S. in Mathematics. After graduation, he served as a naval aviator flying helicopters and as a mission planner for cruise-missile strikes.

Having discovered a love for traveling during his time in the military, he lived in the south of France for a year after leaving the service. There he found a passion for carpentry and metalworking and would practice speaking French by touring small wineries in the region. He remains an avid traveler and, in his spare time, enjoys listening to TED Talks while designing his next project to build.