Judge Dan Eckstrom received a BA in Government and International Studies from the University of South Carolina, and a JD from the University of South Carolina School of Law, earning the AmJur Scholar Award in Antitrust Law.

He was commissioned in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's (Navy JAG) Corps and served on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. A Captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve, he also served as a military prosecutor and as the Anti-Terrorism Officer for an overseas military installation.

He was elected to the Lexington County Board of Education in 1987 and Probate Judge for Lexington County in 1990, serving continuously since. Before his election as Probate Judge, he was special counsel with Nexsen Pruet Jacobs & Pollard. He has served on the House of Delegates of the SC Bar, and as President of the S.C. Association of Probate Judges.

Judge Eckstrom has been an instructor of Judicial Ethics for the SC Court Administration, and he has taught Criminal Law and Procedure, Constitutional Law, and Commercial Law at the undergraduate level. He served on the editorial team for "Prosecuting National Security Cases: A Handbook for Trial Counsel" (Rev. Ed. 1995), a publication of the Office of Judge Advocate General of the Navy.

He is admitted to the Bar in South Carolina and Georgia.