About Diane M
Diane M Shields built her career at the intersection of family law and civil litigation. She is known among peers for steady courtroom work and an emphasis on negotiated resolutions when feasible. Her practice spans several jurisdictions, including admission before the U.S. Supreme Court and bar memberships in New York, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
She completed undergraduate studies at Brandeis University, earning a B.A. in 1978. She returned to law school and received her J.D. from New England Law | Boston in 1987. During law school she took courses and participated in clinics that covered divorce and separation, family mediation and personal injury—areas that later informed much of her practice.
After law school, Shields began building a practice that combined litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Over the years she has handled contested divorce proceedings, negotiated settlements in family law matters and worked on personal injury claims. Her admissions allow her to represent clients in several forums. She is admitted to practice in New York, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, and is also admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Her work balances courtroom advocacy with mediation and settlement strategies. In family cases she has handled custody and support disputes as well as the financial division of assets. In personal injury matters she has worked on claims involving bodily injury and related compensation issues. She approaches each matter by sorting out the legal issues first, then considering whether negotiation, mediation or trial best serves the client's interests.
Clients and colleagues describe her style as pragmatic. She tends to favor clear legal analysis and practical options over open-ended litigation. That pragmatic bent shows up in mediation sessions, where she focuses on facts, legal positions and workable resolutions. When matters require litigation, she has pursued trial practice in state and federal proceedings available to her through her admissions.
Shields maintains an active practice across the jurisdictions in which she is admitted. She continues to take cases that involve divorce and separation, family mediation and personal injury, handling both negotiated settlements and litigated matters as the case requires. She currently concentrates her practice on family law, mediation and personal injury matters across these jurisdictions.
