Experience
Diana has a long experience in the field of law and dispute resolution. Originally a solicitor with more than sixteen years post qualification litigation work in the field of European cross border commercial litigation, she was a partner and Head of Litigation in a medium sized London firm. She is currently chair of the Law Society of England Wales EU Committee.
She then pursued these interests as a leading legislator in the European Parliament being deeply involved in the creation of the EU Mediation Directive.
Diana has latterly been a Senior Lecturer of the Law School at the University of Hull and amongst other activities ran their very popular ADR & Mediation Module. She re-established their mediation centre as Director and continues to undertake cases for the Centre from Hull City Council under a contract she set-up.
A well-respected figure in mediation circles and former board member of the International Mediation Institute Diana is a frequent speaker at Mediation and legal conferences both in the UK and wider Europe.
She has developed her own mediation practice being a qualified mediator with broad experience of various formats of ADR; arbitration, conciliation and mediation.
Clients and parties have always respected Diana’s attention to detail and her empathetic and caring approach. Diana is also a hugely experienced chair of meetings (including 5 years as a Vice President of the European Parliament) she is often engaged as an independent chair in view of her competence and efficiency in this role.
Education
Diana qualified as a solicitor the long way round; she has a BA (Hons) in History from the University of London and an MA in Local Government from the University of Kent. A fluent French and German speaker, she also undertook university level studies at Zurich and Liege. She completed the Law Society Part 1 and Final exams to obtain her professional qualification. She is a CEDR Accredited Mediator and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She was also one of the first Honorary Members of the Chartered Institute of Linguists in recognition of her services to that profession.
Other interests
Diana’s passion is for her adopted county of Yorkshire, which she represented in the European Parliament for twelve years. She is also currently the President of the Board of a Brussels based foundation working in the field of on-line disinformation EU Disinfo Lab.
