Diane Marger Moore: Attorney | Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate
Attorney | Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate & Civil Pretrial Practice Advocate
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AVVO Superb Score 10 out of 10 | AV Peer Review Rated
Airline Crash Litigation, Aviation Accidents, Aviation Product Liability, Bus Accidents, California Wildfires, Catastrophic Injury, Complex and Multi-District Litigation, Consumer Fraud Litigation, Helicopter Crash Litigation, Personal Injury Law, Product Liability Law, Qui Tam Claims, Train Accidents, Traumatic Brain Injury, Truck Accidents, Whistleblower Protection, Wrongful Death Law
Diane Marger Moore is board certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a civil trial attorney. She is an accomplished attorney, public servant, magistrate, educator, mediator, arbitrator, lecturer, writer, editor, and community service volunteer. Throughout her career she has tried over 200 jury trials in courts across the United States. As one of the most experienced fire trial lawyers in the country, Diane heads Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman’s wildfire litigation team. She also works on whistleblower protection cases and commercial transportation accident litigation.
In a career spanning four decades, Diane has gained a wide array of experience from positions she has held in private practice and those committed to public service and protection. She began her career as a public servant by accepting judicial appointments of cases and conducting complex federal criminal litigation as a federal public defender, handling securities fraud, mail fraud, tax fraud, and general criminal matters.
She later worked as a Deputy Attorney General in Indiana’s Federal Litigation Division, Civil Rights Section where she defended the State of Indiana in federal civil rights cases and general federal litigation matters. She then prosecuted arson cases, among others, as the Chief Deputy Arson Prosecutor and Felony Court supervisor where she supervised other senior prosecutors and litigated complex circumstantial felony cases.
Diane went onto become a Master Commissioner and Magistrate in the Major Felony Division of Indiana’s Marion County Superior Court where she served as a judicial officer presiding over non-jury and jury trials and hearings. She also served in the Civil Division where she handled complex civil cases.
As a senior attorney for the Division of Insurance Fraud, a state law enforcement agency known as DIF, in the Florida Department of Financial Services, Diane prepared complex, high profile fraud cases for prosecution throughout the State of Florida. She later served as the managing attorney for Children’s Legal Services for Florida’s Department of Children and Families.
She also practiced law in the state of Georgia, which is where she handled her first cases involving aviation law. She represented the Fulton County Aviation Authority in defending many aviation matters. She also has experience representing trucking companies (through their insurers) and handling other substantial insurance litigation, with an emphasis on complex causation, fraud and arson matters, in Florida and Indiana.
Diane’s experience in working with government agencies gives her distinctive insight into conducting investigations and working with prosecutors in whistleblower qui tam litigation and mass disaster litigation. Her success arguing cases as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney in civil and criminal proceedings makes her uniquely suited to handle a variety of complex cases.
She has held several legal teaching positions throughout her career, starting out as a Teaching Assistant at the University of Georgia, School of Law in Athens, Georgia, during which time she also provided legal counsel to Georgia’s maximum security prisoners. Diane then developed and taught advanced criminology courses to law enforcement officers as an Assistant Professor of Criminology at Tift College.
A few years later Diane became an Adjunct Law Professor at Nova University (Florida), where she taught Master level law courses and the Intensive Trial Advocacy Program at the university’s Center for Study of Law. She then moved to Indiana where she became the Department Head for the Paralegal Program at the International Business College in Indianapolis, just before beginning her position at the Office of Attorney General.
Education:
- Florida State University (B.A., with honors, 1974)
- University of Georgia (J.D., 1978)
- NITA – Teacher Training Session, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 1982
- Advanced Arson / Explosives for Prosecutors, Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Glynco, Georgia, April 1996
Court Admissions:
- Georgia, 1978
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia, 1978
- Florida, 1979
- Louisiana, 1979
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, 1983
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana, 1983
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida Trial Court, 1986
- Indiana, 1990
- United States Court of Claims, 1991
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 1993
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, 1994
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, 2005
- District of Columbia, 2013
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, 2014
- Kentucky, 2015
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, 2015
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, 2015
- Virginia, 2015
Certified:
- Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate and Civil Pretrial Practice Advocate, National Board of Trial Advocacy
Diane Marger Moore in the News
- The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers
- Avvo Clients’ Choice Award, 2012
- Avvo.com Superb Score 10 out of 10
- AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rating through LexisNexis Martindale Hubbell®
- Dean’s List, Moot Court Executive Board, Dean’s List, 1977 – 1978
- University of Georgia School of Law, Order of the Barristers (National Moot Court Honorary), 1978
- Florida Bar President’s Annual Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Division, 1989
- Florida Bar President’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Section, 1992
- Listed, The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers™
- The Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers
- International Moot Court Team, 1976 – 1977
- Editorial Staff, Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, 1976 – 1978
- Coordinator, Women Law Students Association, 1977 – 1978
- World Secretary, World Law Students Association, 1977 – 1979
- National Institute for Trial Advocacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, May – July 1980
- Florida Bar
- Florida Bar Commission on Lawyer Professionalism,1987 – 1989
- Chairman of Florida Bar subcommittee “Communication Professionalism to the Public”
- Editorial Board, Florida Bar Journal, 2009 – present
- Florida Bar Grievance Committee “H,” 17th Judicial Circuit, 1986 -1989
- Board of Governors, Florida Bar, Young Lawyers Division,17th Judicial Circuit, 1987 – 1989
- Chairman, Starting on Your Own Committee,1987 -1988
- Chairman, Guardian Ad Litem Committee,1987 – 1989
- Editor, Florida Bar Journal, Column for Young Lawyers Division,1988 -1989
- Florida Bar Criminal Law Section: Chairman, Committee on Indigent Counsel, 1987 – 1990
- Florida Bar Criminal Law Section: Executive Council, 1991 – 1993
- State Bar of Georgia
- Elected, Board of Governors, State Bar of Georgia, Appalachian Judicial Circuit, 2005 – 2009
- Mentor, State Bar of Georgia, helping law students transition into Law Programs, 2006 – 2012
- Indiana State Bar Association
- Chairman, Client’s Financial Assistance Fund Committee, Board of Governors, State Bar of Indiana, 2000 – 2002
- Committee on the Civil Rights of Children, State Bar of Indiana, 1994, 1996 – 1999
- Editor, Res Gestae (Co-Chairman of the State Bar of Indiana’s Written Publication Committee) Board of Governors, 1997 – 1999
- Facilitator, School Mediation Project, State Bar of Indiana, 1994
- Louisiana State Bar
- National Board of Trial Advocacy
- American Association for Justice: Leader’s Forum; Qui Tam Litigation Group; Section on Toxic, Environmental, and Pharmaceutical Torts (STEP); Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway and Premises Liability Section, Products Liability Section; Public Education Committee
- Managing Attorney, Children’s Legal Services, Florida Department of Children and Families, Panama City, Florida, 2010 – 2011
- Assistant General Counsel, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, 2009 – 2010
- Senior Attorney, Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Insurance Fraud, 2009 – 2010
- Master Commissioner and Magistrate, Marion County Superior Court, Major Felony Division / Civil Division, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1999 – 2001
- Chief Arson Prosecutor, Marion County Felony Division, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1995 – 1997
- Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, State of Indiana’s Federal Litigation Division, Civil Rights Section, 1992 – 1994
- Federal Public Defender, Southern District of Florida, 1986 – 1987
- Department Head, International Business College, Indianapolis, Indiana, Paralegal Program, August – December 1992
- Adjunct Law Professor, Nova University Center for Study of Law, Intensive Trial Advocacy Program, January 1984, January 1985 (and other demonstrations and lectures)
- Adjunct Law Professor, Nova University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, taught Masters level course on “School Law” (AS516), Summer Semester, 1984
- Assistant Professor Criminology, Tift College, Forsyth, Georgia. Developed and taught advanced criminology courses, including “Criminology” and “Policy Report Writing” to law enforcement officers in evening division, March 1979 – August 1979
- Teaching Assistant, University of Georgia – School of Law, Athens, Georgia, September 1977 – June 1978
- Topic: The Devil is in the Details – The Key to Winning Every Case
Organization: Indiana State Bar Association
Event: 16th Annual Women’s Bench Bar Retreat
Location: Culver Cove, Indiana
Date: February 24-26, 2017
- Position: Faculty
Organization: University of Georgia School of Law, State Bar of Georgia
Event: Georgia Trial Skills Clinic
Location: Athens, Georgia
Date: June 23-26, 2016
- Topic: Litigating from Home: The Balancing Act That Works
Organization: Indiana State Bar Association
Event: Women’s Bench Bar Retreat
Location: Culver Cove, Indiana Date: February 27-March 1, 2015
- Topic: Trial Preparation, Witness Preparation and Jury Trial Practice and Strategy.
Organization: The Florida Bar, Criminal Law Section and the University of Florida School of Law
Event: Gerald Bennett Memorial Trial Skills Clinic
Location: University of Florida, Levin School of Law, Gainesville, Florida
Date: August 3-8, 2014
- Topic: Trial Skills
Position: Faculty
Organization: University of Georgia School of Law
Event: Gary Christy Memorial Georgia Trial Skills Clinic
Location: Athens, Georgia
Date: June 27 – 30, 2013
- Topic: Professional Training
Position: Teaching team member/team leader/facilitator
Organization: University of Florida School of Law
Event: Prosecutor/Public Defender Trial Training Program
Location: Gainesville, Florida
Date: 1985-1992, 2010 – 2013
- Topic: Qui Tam Litigation: Critical Issues—Identifying A False Claims Act Case, Drafting and Deciding Where to File” and Panelist “Panel Discussion: Handling Urgent Legal Matters
Organization: The Institute for Continuing Legal Education in Georgia
Event: “Advanced Urgent Legal Matters Seminar at Sea” for Florida and Georgia Attorneys
Location: Celebrity Cruise Line Eclipse
Date: November 9 – 17, 2012
- Topic: “Whistleblower (Qui Tam) Litigation in Indiana: The Facts and Recent Decisions”
Organization: Indiana State Bar Association
Event: Women’s Bench Bar Retreat
Location: Culver Cove, Indiana
Date: March 3, 2012
- Topic: Trial Practice for Dependency Cases
Position: Faculty Chairman
Organization: Florida Department Children and Families
Event: Children’s Legal Services First Annual Trial Training Seminar
Location: Panama City, Florida
Date: April 2011
- Topic: Advanced Criminal Trial Practice
Position: Faculty
Organization: State Bar of Georgia; University of Georgia School of Law
Event: Gary Christie Memorial Trial Skills Clinic (formerly Advanced Trial Practice Clinic)
Location: Athens, Georgia
Date: 2003 – 2006, 2008 – 2011
- Topic: Trial Skills
Position: Faculty
Organization: University of Georgia School of Law, State Bar of Georgia
Event: Georgia Trial Skills Clinic
Location: Athens, Georgia
Date: 2003 – 2006
- Topic: “How to Set Up a Law Practice”
Position: Speaker and Panel Member
Organization: Second Annual Women and the Law
Event: Bench – Bar Conference
Location: Culver, Indiana
Date: February 2006
- Topic: “Civil Rights and Statutory Disputes: Resolving Civil Rights and Title VII Cases through Mediation”
Position: Trainer, Advanced Mediation Training
Organization: Indiana Association of Mediators
Event: Advanced Mediation Training
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Date: October 29, 1994
- Topic: “Adjusting Condominium Losses: The New Florida Condominium Act”
Organization: Crawford and Company
Event: Annual Property Seminar
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Date: August 1992
- Topic: “Motion Practice in Criminal Cases”
Organization: Florida Bar
Event: Young Lawyer Seminar on Criminal Practice
Location: Tampa, Florida and Miami, Florida,
Date: November 1991
- Topic: “Interviewing and Counseling of Clients”
Organization: Florida Bar
Event: Bridge-the-Gap Seminar
Location: Winter Park, Florida
Date: October 1988
- Topic: “Impact of Bail Reform Act of 1984”
Organization: National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies
Event: Seminar on New Issues in Federal Practice
Location: Miami, Florida
Date: October 1986
- Position: Teaching team member
Organization: Stetson University College of Law
Event: Prosecutor/Public Defender Trial Training Program
Location: Gulfport, Florida
Date: December 2 – 4 , 1984
- Topic: Federal Practice
Organization: Florida Legal Assistants, Inc.
Event: Semiannual meeting
Location: West Palm Beach, Florida
Date: October 6, 1983
- Topic: “Conflicts of Interest in Multi-Defendant Cases”
Organization: The Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Inc.
Event: Annual Seminar
Location: Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Date: March 1983
- Position: Faculty on Criminal Law
Organization: Georgia Continuing Legal Education
Event: Bridge-the-Gap Seminar
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Date: January 1982, January 1983
- Position: Faculty
Organization: Emory University
Event: NITA Trial Techniques Program
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Date: January 1982, January 1983
- Position: Assistant Team Leader
Organization: National Institute for Trial Advocacy
Event: S.E. Regional Program
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Date: May 1982
- Topic: “Innovative Defense Techniques”
Organization: Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia
Event: Seminar
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Date: September 1981
- American Arbitration Association, Panel of Arbitrators, 1990 – 1994
- Nova University Mediation Training Session, December 1992
- Advanced Mediation Training, Indianapolis, Indiana, March 1994
- Certified Insurance Mediator, State of Florida, 1992 – 1996
- Civil Mediation – Florida and Indiana, 1992 – 2001
- Georgia Registered Mediator, 2009 – 2011
- Inconvenience Gone: The Short Tragic Life Of Brandon Sims, a true story about a mother, Michelle Jones, who killed her 4-year-old son, October 23, 2018
- Sharkeyes, a true story about a tiny corpse, a determined detective and a novice prosecutor, December 10, 2016
- Felonious Wealth – HG.org, November 16, 2012
- Indiana’s Corpus Delicti Rule: Time for A Change – Res Gestae, 2001
- Florida Criminal Appellate Practice – A New Lawyer’s Guide – Attorneys Handbook, Fla. C.L.E., 1988 (updated 1989, 1990, 1992, & 1993)
- Motion Practice in Criminal Cases – Fla. C.L.E., 1992
- New Grievance Procedures: A Summary and Analysis – 65 Fla. Bar J. 35, 1991
- Federal Practice in Southern District of Florida – Fla. C.L.E., 1989, (Reprinted 1990)
- Interviewing the Client, Fact Investigation & Theory of Defense – Florida Pretrial Practice in Criminal Cases, Fla. Bar C.L.E., 1987
- New I.R.S. Reporting Law: A Further Decline of Client Confidentiality – 59 Fla. Bar J. 333, 1985
- The Trafficking Act and Youthful Offenders – Vol. III, No. 1 Crim. L. Section Newsletter, 1984; M. Kadish & R. Brofman, Trial Investigation and Preparation, Criminal Law Advocacy Series, Matthew Bender, 1982 Contributing Author
- Pretrial Motions in Criminal Cases – published by Georgia Continuing Legal Education Bridge-the-Gap, 1981-1982
- Misdemeanor Practice in Georgia – published by Georgia Continuing Legal Education, Misdemeanor Practice, 1, 1981
- Criminal Law in Georgia – Misdemeanors – published by Georgia Continuing Legal Education, 1981
- Ambassador, Monticello Opera House, 2011 – present
- Georgia Bar Foundation, 2002 – present
- Indiana Bar Foundation, 1999 – present
- Board of Directors, Pickens County Arts Council, 2008 – 2010
- Board of Directors, Appalachian Children’s Shelter, 2008 – 2009
- Board of Directors, Appalachian Children’s Center, 2005 – 2006
- Vice President, Parent-Teacher Organization, Jasper Elementary School, 2002 – 2004
- Coordinator, Domestic Violence Task Force, Appalachian Judicial Circuit, 2002 – 2003
- Girl Scout Troop Leader, Girl Scouts of America, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1998 – 2001
- Member of the Board of Directors, Adult and Child Mental Health Center, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1997 – 2001, Chairman of the Board 1999 – 2000
- Precinct Committee Chairman, Center & Perry Townships, 1995 – 1999
- Selke v. Germanwings GmbH, 261 F. Supp. 3d 645 (E.D. Va. 2017) (Virginia court had personal jurisdiction over a German airline, involving Germanwings Flight 9525 from Barcelona, Spain to Düsseldorf, Germany, whose pilot committed suicide by crashing the plane into the French Alps and killing all 150 on board, because the airline sold its tickets to passengers that resided in Virginia through its authorized agent, United Airlines)
- Spanish