Diane Abbey
Founder,
Diane Abbey Law Center for Children and Families
Diane L.
Abbey is the founder of the Diane Abbey Law Center for Children and
Families at New York Law School. The Center was conceived with two goals
in mind. The first is to prepare students for the practice of family law;
this includes all aspects of law regarding family and children; their
needs, and their rights. The second is to assist children and families in
need in a variety of pro bono settings
Mrs. Abbey worked
as an English as Second Language teacher at Theodore Roosevelt High School
in the Bronx. After leaving teaching to raise two children of her own,
Mrs. Abbey continued to work to better the lives of other children and
families. As an educator for Planned Parenthood she spoke at schools,
substance abuse centers and after school programs. She served on the
Capital Campaign committee for New Alternatives for Children, an
organization that provides a range of social services for disabled
children and their families. At NAC she was instrumental in establishing
the volunteer corps for the agency. That program has expanded into
tutoring, after school and summer programs for the children and is now 300
volunteers strong.
Mrs. Abbey has served on numerous
boards including that of the Brotherhood Synagogue were she was actively
involved in the campaign to totally renovate and restore the 1859 Friends
Meeting House which now houses the synagogue.
Mrs.
Abbey has been married for 52 years to attorney Arthur Abbey. They have
two children, Leslie and Jonathan and she is the devoted grandmother of
Graham and Hannah Dietz.
