DJ is a native of Missoula, MT, and went to Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon where he obtained degrees in International Business and Music.  Before going to law school, DJ worked in the membership office of the Oregon Historical Society in Portland.

DJ left the northwest in 2007 to attend law school at Fordham University, in New York, where he contributed to the International Law Journal and excelled in his administrative law and employment law classes.  He graduated cum laude and was named a Ruth Whitehead Whaley Scholar for Academic Achievement. During law school, DJ returned to the Northwest for an internship with MercyCorps.

After graduating, DJ began working as an associate attorney with the Rocke Law Group, a boutique law firm focused on employment law and business litigation in Seattle.  He worked there until 2014, when he relocated to Oregon and joined the law firm of Larry L. Linder, LLC, where he is excited to continue practicing and sharing his expertise in employment law.

In his free time, DJ enjoys playing horn with the Salem Concert Band, adding birds to his life list in the forests of the Northwest, and  showing off his expansive knowledge of trivia to his friends in the Portland area.