Diana M. Savit (Special Education Attorney)

Diana M. Savit is a founding member of the law firm Savit & Szymkowicz, LLP, which is located in Bethesda, Maryland. Ms. Savit has extensive experience as a senior litigator in private practice and the government sector. Her current practice emphasizes resolving business disputes, representing employers and employees, and securing students’ educational rights, preschool to postgraduate. Since 2007, Ms. Savit has annually been named a SuperLawyer® (for education law) in both Maryland and the District of Columbia by, respectively, Baltimore and Law and Politics magazines.

In December 2007, she was named among the top 1% of District of Columbia lawyers (for education law) by Washingtonian Magazine.

Previously, Ms. Savit headed the litigation department at Silver, Freedman & Taff in Washington, DC (1985-1995), was an assistant corporation counsel for the District of Columbia (1979-1985), and served as a general attorney in the Office of the Chief Counsel, U.S. Customs Service (1976-1979).

Practice Areas: 

• Civil and appellate litigation and litigation avoidance
• Business formation and management
• Employment
• Contracts
• Special education
• Disability rights.

Education:

Princeton University, A.B. (cum laude) 1973
George Washington University Law School, J.D. (with honors) 1976

Admitted:

1976, District of Columbia; 1987, Maryland; United States District Courts for the Districts of Columbia and Maryland; United States  Courts of Appeal for the District of Columbia, Fourthand Federal Circuits; United States Tax Court; United States Supreme Court.

Activities:

President, District of Columbia Women’s Bar Association Foundation (2008-present); past president, Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (1993-04); co-chair, Board of Governors, The Chelsea School, Silver Spring, Maryland (2009-present); past president, Washington Independent Services for Educational Resources, (2004-06); member, D.C. Superior Court Civil Rules Advisory Committee, 1994 to present.

Also: past vice president, National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations; D.C. Advisory Committee on Education of the Handicapped, 1980-1981, 1984-1985; member, D.C. Circuit Judicial Conference, 1992, 1994; member, D.C. Judicial Conference, 1994, 1997,1999-2001; member, Legal Counsel for the Elderly Policy Board, 1997-2001; mediator, Superior Court of the District of Columbia; arbitrator, National Association Of Securities Dealers.

Memberships:

The District of Columbia Bar (member, Litigation Section); Maryland State Bar Association (member, Litigation Section); American Bar Association (member, Litigation, Law Practice Management and General Practice/Solo Firm Sections); Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia; Women’s Bar Association of Maryland (also member, Montgomery County chapter); International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (member, Board of Governors, 1994-2003); National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations (Board Member, 1997-2003).

Publications:

• Flying Solo: A Survival Guide for the Solo Lawyer, 3rd & 4th eds., Edited by Jeffrey R. Simmons,Published by American Bar Association/Law Practice Management Section (2001, 2004).
• Chapter author: Life After the Law Firm: Family and Personal Considerations in Deciding to be a Solo.