Dan Polkow

Brief Background: I grew up in the Midwest and moved to Seattle, WA about 4 years ago without a job in order to create a change of scenery and have a new experience. From there I ended up taking some time off, enjoying the city and then worked for KeyBank for the next 3 years in Small Business Advisement. The jobs I had before law school primarily were around customer service, finance and sales.

The things that I enjoy doing now are hiking, backpacking, yoga, skiing, running, well really exercise and sports of any sort are right up my wheelhouse. I like to read…well all law students probably like that one, but I like to read political and historical non-fiction quite a bit. I enjoy checking out different breweries in town. I am pretty much up for an adventure and trying something new at any point…well any point that you won’t find me in Wood Hall.

Favorite class at L&C:
I am in the minority here, but contracts. I loved my professor, who you could tell loves to teach and is passionate about the subject. I also believe that contracts are applicable in daily life so there was a lot of ability to relate the subjects I learned to everyday experiences. Also, the cases in that class sometimes make you laugh!

Why law school?
I really had enjoyed being an advisor and a trusted source for the clients that I worked with in my various jobs, but felt that I was not making much of an impact into their lives. I thought a career in law could broaden the impact that I could make for people, and in environmental law, hopefully do work that will impact entire communities. I know, very cliché, but it is all true.

Why L&C?
I chose to attend Lewis and Clark for a million reasons. To name a few, the people, the small size of school, the fact that the law campus is separate, the great programs (all but especially environmental), the ability to take a lot of specialized classes, Portland, the PNW, and access to the outdoors!

Hardest thing about law school:
Scheduling and owning your day. There is always something going on around campus and someone is always studying, so its hard, but important to be confident in the routines, schedules and time that you commit.