Dakota earned her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law, where she was an Associate Editor for the DePaul Law Review and a teaching assistant for a constitutional law course and DePaul’s Academic Success Program. While at DePaul, she worked as a law clerk at a labor union and as a student attorney in the Misdemeanor Clinic. Dakota received the Dean’s Certificate of Service for her volunteer efforts while in law school and was awarded the highest overall grade in her labor law course.