Allan Gerald Donn was born in 1939 in Norfolk to Milton Donn and Freda Fleder. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts. In 1964, he received a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Harvard University Law School and became engaged to Susan L. Berman who he later married. A year later Donn was admitted to the Virginia State Bar. In 1967, he received a Master of Laws (LLM) in Taxation from Georgetown Law Center. As of 2010, Donn is a member of Willcox and Savage, specializing in partnerships, limited liability companies, taxation and estate planning. While a student at Harvard, Donn was present when the United States Supreme Court heard the school desegregation case, Cocheyse J. Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County. In this pivotal case, the court ruled that closing public schools to avoid desegregation was unconstitutional and ordered that they be reopened. Later, as a member of Norfolk legal firm of Willcox, Savage, Lawrence, Dickson & Spindle, Donn represented the School Board of City of Norfolk in desegregation cases in the late 1960s and 1970s.

Note written by Sonia Yaco