Professor Dayton is a nationally-known expert in the field of elder law and a Visiting Professor of Law at the William Mitchell College of Law. Previously she was Professor of Law at the University of Kansas from 1986 through 2004.
In 1994, Professor Dayton helped to establish the elder law clinic at the University of Kansas, one of the nation's first law school clinics dedicated to serving the needs of elderly clients. And in 1995, she founded the Kansas Elder Law Network (now known as the National Elder Law Network), a web-based compendium of resources on elder law.
Professor Dayton clerked for the Honorable James M. Sprouse of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and worked as a litigation associate at Shea & Gardner in Washington, D.C. from 1984-86. She is a 1983 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan.