Maria S. Diamond
As a child, Maria Diamond developed an interest in medicine and by age 10 decided she wanted to become a doctor like a beloved uncle and other family members. She pursued that dream until her junior year at the University of Washington when a close family friend, a UW economics professor, suggested her talents were well-suited for a career in law. Ultimately, Maria combined her love of medicine with law, becoming a personal injury attorney.
The course of her legal career was charted during her second year of law school. After winning top writing honors in an appellate argument competition, Maria was hired as a legal intern at a major Tacoma law firm where she was exposed to a wide variety of legal specialties, including personal injury, criminal, business, real estate, and family law.
Not surprisingly, given her interest in medicine, she was drawn to personal injury trial work. The following year she took a trial skills course from one of Washington state’s top personal injury attorneys, and he persuaded her to intern at his firm while she studied for the Bar exam. What was to have been just a summer job became a 22-year career at the preeminent personal injury firm, where Maria successfully represented people injured by medical negligence, defective drugs and devices, asbestos exposure, maritime and motor vehicle accidents.
Maria has tried multiple medical negligence cases to seven-figure jury verdicts. She was the lead attorney in two landmark victories for Washington consumers in the area of insurance.
41 years into her legal career devoted exclusively to plaintiff’s personal injury cases, in 2010 Maria decided to start her own law firm with Judy Massong. At Diamond~Massong, Maria uses her extensive experience and knowledge to handle medical negligence, nursing home neglect/abuse, defective drug/device, motor vehicle collision and maritime injury cases.
Despite a demanding law practice, Maria remains active in various legal organizations. She is past president of the Washington State Association for Justice (formerly Washington State Trial Lawyers Association) and is the recipient of both the President’s Award and the Alvin Anderson Award. Since 2002, she has been on the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice and has received multiple awards for distinguished service. These awards recognize her hard work and achievements in protecting the rights of injured people. Maria also served on the Washington State Jury Commission, which was responsible for many improvements in the way jury trials are conducted that we now take for granted, including allowing jurors to take notes and ask questions during trials.
Maria receives top legal ratings, including Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating (AV) and Avvo’s highest rating (10). She has been selected for the Top 40 Plaintiffs Personal Injury Super Lawyers® and Top 50 Women Super Lawyers® by Washington Law & Politics magazine and has been named to the Super Lawyers® list since 2003.
Maria is proud of her Greek heritage and feels fortunate to have lived with family in Greece for extended periods of time as she was growing up. She feels this background gave her a “broad view of the world, an understanding of different cultures, and a knack for languages.” At one time she spoke as many as five languages and remains fluent in Greek.
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