Diane graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in Psychology in 1979. After marriage and the birth of her three sons, she went back to school. She graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College in 1996.

Diane is licensed to practice law in both Oregon and Washington, and is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

During Diane's law school years, one of her sons was diagnosed with a disability. Frustrated and confused by the IEP process, Diane decided that special education was an area of the law that she could embrace with a passion. Practicing special education law eventually became the sole focus of Diane's legal practice.

Currently, Diane's law practice focuses exclusively on representing children with educational issues. Most of her law practice is representing children with special needs, but the law practice is always evolving to meet client’s needs. Diane currently represents children with any education issue - from students with special needs to regular education students with disciplinary issues, and anything in-between!

In 1999, Diane had the good fortune to meet another attorney who represented children with special needs, Lana Traynor. They shared the same philosophy, “The child is the client.” After much discussion, a new law practice model was born! Diane and Lana maintain separate law firms that focus solely on representing students with education issues. However, they handle all of their cases together, which means that the client gets the benefit and flexibility of two attorneys for one hourly rate.

Diane and Lana's goal is to improve each student's educational experience, and to ensure that each student receives the education they are entitled to under federal and state laws.