Danielle Diamond

Danielle Diamond has two decades of experience in environmental law and policy, focusing on complex regulatory matters intersecting local, state, and federal laws. Trained in law and applied environmental anthropology, she has worked extensively at the intersection of environmental, land use, agricultural, food systems, sustainability, and social justice realms, particularly for frontline and fenceline communities in the rural United States.

Much of her work has been with farmers and rural communities negatively impacted by pollution from industrial agriculture. Her work in this realm began in Illinois, leading to consulting and managing community advocacy campaigns nationwide. Having directed a public interest organization’s national field team of experts and community organizers for many years, she became one of the nation’s leading experts on the environmental regulation of large-scale industrial livestock production facilities, commonly called “concentrated animal feeding operations” or “CAFOs.”

Diamond has written extensively about the consequences of industrialized livestock production, publishing research in peer-reviewed journals, such as the Drake Journal of Agricultural Law, the Journal of Rural Studies, the Environmental Law Reporter, and Environmental Justice. She has authored ordinances, environmental regulations, and legislation for grassroots community groups, local governments, and national public interest organizations, and has served as counsel in state and federal administrative agency rulemakings, regulatory taskforces, and the like.

In private practice, she has concentrated on real estate, land use, zoning, and municipal law. She regularly consults on environmental case development, permitting, and regulatory matters, as well as on law and policy initiatives for public interest, government, and private clientele.

Ms. Diamond recently completed a Visiting Fellowship with the Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law School. And, in addition to teaching law school courses at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law, and the Vermont Law and Graduate School, she is currently Of Counsel with the firm, Diamond Legal, PC (formerly Diamond & LeSueur, PC.).

When taking time off from trying to save the world, Miss Diamond enjoys spending time with her family. She and her 8-year-old son love to be outdoors, especially in their backyard with their two adorable free-range bunnies – Chocolate and Marshmallow.

View CV

Juris Doctor | Northern Illinois University College of Law
Master of Arts with High Honors | Northern Illinois University Illinois
Bachelor of Integrated Studies | Weber State University

State Bar of Illinois
United States Federal District Court of the Northern District of Illinois
Illinois State Bar Association
Certificate in Applied Anthropology