Danée attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a certification in Applied Business. After graduation, Danée worked as a licensed stockbroker for Charles Schwab. While at the University of Denver, College of Law, Danée's focus was in criminal law and trial practice.

Upon graduation from law school, Danée moved to Alaska where she was the law clerk for Superior Court Judge Phillip Volland from 2004-2005. She then worked for the Alaska Public Defenders Agency representing parents in Child in Need of Aid actions and representing defendants as a trial attorney in Anchorage and several rural communities. Danée spent 2006-2009 as an associate for the law firm Dillon & Findley, practicing personal injury plaintiffs’ work, wrongful death, medical malpractice, and criminal defense.

In 2010, Danée opened her own practice, The Law Offices of Danée L. Pontious. Her practice at that time focused primarily on State and Federal criminal defense. In 2012, Danée closed her practice to begin a family, though she continued to be active in the law and legal community. From 2012 to 2017, Danée worked at the Law Offices of Dattan Scott Dattan, where she expanded her practice areas to family, estate, and business law.

Danée has been a member of the Alaska Bar Association since 2004. In addition to being the sole proprietor of Pontious Law Offices, Danée is a member of the Federal Bar Association, a Lawyers Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, and a member of the Criminal Justice Act panel, which appoints private attorneys to indigent federal criminal defendants when the Federal Public Defenders have a conflict.