DC Bar Presidential Election
Diane A. Seltzer, Esquire
Candidate Statement
I am delighted to announce that I have been nominated to be the President of the DC Bar! I hope my friends and colleagues who are members of the DC Bar will share this information and vote for me during the election period of April 15 through June 4, 2025. Here is my Candidate Statement:
As President of the DC Bar, I will serve our members by leveraging my familiarity with, and deep understanding of, the Bar’s operations, current initiatives, strategic plans, programs and staff. I can and will lead our Bar in navigating our challenges and opportunities.
Lawyers are critical in ensuring that the rule of law is upheld – particularly in these times of governmental chaos. My priority will be to make sure that our members are supported as the demands for legal services increase.
I have served for 5 years on the Board of Governors of the DC Bar and the Board of Directors of the DC Bar Pro Bono Center – first as Secretary from 2020-2021, and then as a Board member since 2021. I am currently on the Board’s Executive Committee, and I have served on its Compensation Subcommittee and on its Budget Committee.
In October 2024, I completed my 12th year of service on the Bar’s Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Committee, for which I served as Chair (2023-2024, 2022-2023, 2016-2017), Vice Chair (2015-2016), and Committee member (2012-2015, 2018-2022). Over the years, I have taught several dozen courses for the CLE Program and typically teach 4 courses per year.
I have served on the DC Bar’s 2020-2025 Strategic Planning Committee; the Bar’s Screening Committee, which makes candidate recommendations to the Board; the Communities Committee, which oversees the Bar’s 20 Communities; and the Nominations Committee, which elects nominees for the Bar President-elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Board of Governors, and members of the ABA House of Delegates.
My firm’s website, www.seltzerlawfirm.com, further describes my employment law practice and my volunteer work.
I will lead our Bar with the energy, skill, open-mindedness and curiosity the position of President requires, and I am grateful for each vote that enables me to do this work. Thank you.
Presidential Priorities
We must, at all costs, honor and uphold the rule of law.
Lawyers are critical in ensuring that the rule of law is upheld, particularly in these times of governmental chaos. My priority will be to engage with our members, understand what support and resources they need to meet the demands of the profession right now, and partner with them to provide that support and those resources. I will ask all of our members and stakeholders — solo/small firm lawyers, BigLaw lawyers, law school deans and administrators, government lawyers, new lawyers, experienced lawyers, and in house lawyers — what they need from the Bar so that they can keep up with the increasing demand for legal services without giving up or burning out.
Lawyers — especially those in Washington, DC — are serving as the strong set of guardrails protecting the Constitution, ensuring access to justice, and challenging unlawful conduct by the highest levels of government. The Bar has to be a source of strength.
Who I Am
I am an employment lawyer and have been for over 30 years. I love my work!
I have been an Adjunct Professor of Law at American University’s Washington College of Law since 2003, where I have taught employment law and human resources compliance courses.
I’m an energetic volunteer, having served in many leadership capacities for the DC Bar, the ABA, and the Bar Association of Montgomery County, Maryland. I have taught many Continuing Legal Education classes for the DC Bar and for other organizations. For a full list of the 140+ classes and presentations I have taught, and the publications I have contributed to writing, please see www.seltzerlawfirm.com/presentations/.
Meet President-Elect Candidate Diane Seltzer
Read Washington Lawyer’s coverage of my candidacy, and learn more about who I am and why I am active: “Every step of my journey, there were people saying, ‘Come join us. You want to work hard? Well, we’ve got work for you. We will be nice to you. And we don’t all look alike.’”
From dcbar.org.
Leadership and Service
I have a deep record of leadership and service both within and outside of the DC Bar. An overview of my volunteer service includes:
Instructor on Employment Discrimination Law, presented annually to the federal judicial law clerks for the Judges of the U.S. District Court of Maryland (2004-2024); given the Court’s Exceptional Service Award for this service (January 2016).
Board Member, Board of Governors of the D.C. Bar (2021-2024; 2024-2027) (Executive Committee: 2023-2025; Budget Committee: 2021-2023; Compensation Subcommittee: 2023-2024); Secretary (2020-2021 term); Secretary (2020-2021 term)
Board Member, Board of Directors of the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center (2021-2024; 2024-2027)
Co-Chair, American Bar Association Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division (GPSolo) Litigation Committee (2023-2024); Vice-Chair (2020-2023)
Chair, D.C. Bar Continuing Legal Education Committee (November 2022-October 2024; November 2016-October 2017); Vice-Chair (November 2015-October 2016); Member (November 2012–October 2015; October 2018-October 2022)
Member, D.C. Bar 2020-2025 Strategic Planning Committee (2019-2020)
Member, D.C. Bar Screening Committee (2018-2019; 2020-2021)
Member, D.C. Bar Communities Committee (2018)
Member, D.C. Bar Nominations Committee (2017-2018)
Vice-Chair, American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law’s Federal Law Clerk Training Program (2007–2008)
Co-Chair, American Bar Association Section of Litigation’s Employment and Labor Relations Committee (2004-2008)
Co-Chair, American Bar Association Section of Litigation’s Committee on Employment and Labor’s Subcommittee on Equal Employment Opportunity (2000-2004)
Vice President, Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association (MWELA) (2000-2002 and 1998-1999); Board Member (1995-2009); Newsletter Editor (1995-1997)
Co-Chair, Solo and Small Firm Committee of D.C Bar Law Practice Management Section’s Steering Committee (1999-2000)
Member, D.C. Bar Law Practice Management Section’s Steering Committee (1998-2000)
Chair, Bar Association of Montgomery County, Maryland’s Employment Law Committee (1996-1998)
Plaintiffs’ Co-Chair, Regional Liaison Program of the American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity (1997)
Volunteer EMT-B, Glen Echo Fire Department, Bethesda, Maryland (July 2010-June 2012)
Past Steering Committee Member, National Capital Region’s 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. Hosted by the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department, the Stair Climb is a way to honor and remember the FDNY firefighters who gave their lives on September 11, 2001. Each participant pays tribute to an FDNY firefighter by climbing or walking the equivalent of the 110 stories of the World Trade Center.
Chapter Leader, Free Mom Hugs Washington, DC chapter (2019-2022). Free Mom Hugs is a registered non-profit organization made up of parents and allies of the LGBTQ+ community. The organization is dedicated to affirming, celebrating, and advocating for equality for the LGBTQ+ community.
Board Member, National Capital Housing Management Corporation (2004-2006). NCHMC is a non-profit organization that provides and promotes affordable fair housing for senior citizens and disabled adults of low to moderate income.
★ ★ ★
I love to run, and I urge you to run or walk with me and the DC Bar Team at the 2025 Lawyers Have Heart 10K, 5K and Fun Walk on May 17, 2025.
Endorsements
I have received the following endorsements of my candidacy for DC Bar President:
Past DC Bar Presidents:
Andrea Ferster, Esquire
Jamie Gorelick, Esquire
Ellen Jakovic, Esquire
Geoffrey Klineberg, Esquire
Philip Lacovara, Esquire
Esther Lim, Esquire
Myles Lynk, Esquire
Patrick McGlone, Esquire
Annamaria Steward, Esquire
Marna Tucker, Esquire
Charles Work, Esquire
Past Voluntary Bar Association Presidents:
Lorelie Masters, Past President, Women’s Bar Association of DC
Other Associations:
Marc Elias, Founder, Democracy Docket
Voluntary Bar Associations:
How You Can Help
My Steering Committee and I welcome your help! Please consider these ideas to help me win this election, and please email or call me to share your ideas.
- Post or repost about my candidacy on social media platforms.
- Send emails to your professional networks about my candidacy.
- Assist with obtaining endorsements from voluntary Bar associations.
- Assist with obtaining endorsements from influential leaders in our legal community.
- Assist with creating and responding to social media posts.
- Ask your contacts at #BigLaw if they would send emails to the attorneys in their Firm endorsing me and asking them to vote for me.
- Help organize meet and greets, in person or by Zoom, where I can meet with members of your networks, listen to their concerns, and answer questions about my platform.
- Share information about my platform and my leadership experience with stakeholders.
- Share your special skills with me – tell me what you’d like to do to help!
- Starting on April 15, 2025, post to social media and send emails to your professional networks reminding people to VOTE RIGHT AWAY WHILE THEY ARE THINKING ABOUT IT. I can send you a template email to send out, if that would help.
- VOTE!!!
Voting
The 2025 DC Bar general and Communities elections will run from April 15 to June 4. Voting is exclusively online. Eligible voters (all active D.C. Bar members in good standing as of February 28) will receive an email link to the general election ballot, as well as to the ballots for their DC Bar Communities, from Direct Vote (via Survey & Ballot Systems), an independent vendor administering the 2025 DC Bar elections.
Media Coverage
Please click the links below for the full articles.
NBC News
Bondi’s opponent, Diane A. Seltzer, an attorney with a focus on employment law who already serves on the D.C. Bar’s Board of Governors, said she decided to run because she saw it as the culmination of decades of bar leadership experience at a critical time in history.
“I want to be able to support the members of our bar in this time of governmental chaos,” she said. “Our legal system needs a bar that understands and sees them and can support them in ways that will be helpful and keep everyone’s energy up and keep people from giving up or burning out.”
Photo thumbnail used for NBC News article.
Reuters
Bondi’s opponent running for DC Bar president is Diane Seltzer, an employment law attorney who has served on the Board of Governors for the past five years. She also said the bar president has limited influence over discipline and other matters.
“This is not a one-person show,” Seltzer said.
Photo thumbnail used for Reuters article. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao.
New York Times
Photo thumbnail used for New York Times article. Kenny Holston/The New York Times.
Questions? Ideas? Want to Get Involved?
Contact me by phone or email.