Diana Kruze is an ADR professional who serves on more than a dozen international and US arbitration panels. Each case is unique, and Diana tries to be responsive to the needs of the parties and their attorneys, always putting the clients’ needs first. She works tirelessly to help parties resolve their conflict in a lasting and meaningful way. Diana has served as a chair, wing and solo arbitrator in countless cases, involving everything from trade secret misappropriation to cryptocurrency disputes.

Diana trained as a neutral at the California Superior Court New Judges’ Orientation, the U.C. Berkeley Mediation & Conflict Resolution Program, and the American Arbitration Association. She frequently serves as a speaker regarding dispute resolution.

Prior to joining the ADR world, Diana was a full-time judicial officer in California Superior Court, presiding over a diverse array of cases. Through this work, Diana became adept at running fair hearings, efficiently managing a docket of hundreds of cases, respectfully listening to the parties, carefully reviewing and considering the evidence, and being thorough and decisive in arriving at a just final outcome.

Diana also has 15 years of legal experience as a former big-firm litigator. She was a partner in the Intellectual Property Group of Morrison & Foerster, focusing on patent, trade secret, and copyright litigation. Diana has extensive experience with IP counseling for start-ups, licensing and patent post-grant review procedures. She represented clients in a wide range of disciplines, including biotech, life sciences, software, medical devices, nanotechnology, smartphones, user interfaces, satellite systems, and semiconductor processing and packaging. In addition to her litigation work, Diana was also part of the firm’s extensive pro bono practice, focusing on civil rights and LGBTQ issues.

In her spare time, Diana is an adjunct professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where she won the 2019 Teacher of the Year Award. She currently serves on several legal boards, is the Chair of the ADR section of the California Lawyers Association, and was appointed by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court to serve on the Legal Services Trust Fund Commission. She is also the former president of the Jewish Bar Association of San Francisco, former board member on the California State Bar’s Appellate Review Committee of the Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission, and former fundraising co-chair of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.