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.