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Diane Seltzer Elected as D.C. Bar President-Elect

In a landmark achievement for the legal community, Diane A. Seltzer has been elected the president-elect of the District of Columbia Bar for the upcoming 2025–2026 term. Seltzer, the principal of Seltzer Law Firm, is set to commence her role on July 1, 2025, and will assume the presidency following current president-elect Sadina Montani, making her the 54th president of the Bar.

Seltzer specializes in employment law and boasts an extensive history of contributions to the D.C. Bar. She has held various significant positions including Board of Governors secretary from 2020 to 2021 and chair of the Continuing Legal Education Committee across three terms. Furthermore, she played an integral role on the Strategic Planning Committee for 2020–2025 and was involved in other committees such as the Screening, Communities, and Nominations Committees.

Expressing her excitement over her election, Seltzer stated, "I trusted that our members would elect a president-elect who they know will be fierce for them and hear them with respect to the issues that matter [to them]." She emphasized that her election reflects the Bar's commitment to uphold leadership that resonates with its values, particularly the importance of maintaining the rule of law and practicing law without fear of retaliation.

Diane Seltzer obtained her law degree in 1991 from the American University Washington College of Law. Following graduation, she clerked for Judge Frederick C. Wright III, Judge John P. Corderman, and Judge Daniel Moylan at the Circuit Court for Washington County, Maryland. In 1997, she founded her own practice, Seltzer Law Firm, and has since made significant strides in employment discrimination law training for federal judicial law clerks in Maryland.

Her contributions to the field have not gone unnoticed; in 2016, she was honored with the Exceptional Service Award by the judges of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Adding to her impressive credentials, Seltzer has also served as an adjunct professor at her alma mater from 2003 to 2023, where she developed and taught a course on Human Resources Compliance in the school’s Master of Legal Studies program.

In this recent election, other notable appointments include Amanda C. Molina, corporate counsel at Microsoft Corporation, who will serve as treasurer-elect, and Joshua L. Mogil, a senior associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, who will take on the role of treasurer starting July 1, 2025. Additionally, the Board of Governors saw the election of several members for three-year terms, including Karen Newton Cole of the Neighborhood Legal Services Program and Louis Lopez of the AARP Foundation.

Remarkably, the elections for this year witnessed historical voter engagement, with 38,636 members participating, accounting for 43 percent of the eligible voters within the D.C. Bar, which boasts a total membership of 89,304. For those interested, a complete breakdown of the election results can be found on the D.C. Bar's official website.

Newly elected officials and board members will be honored at the upcoming D.C. Bar's Celebration of Leadership event scheduled for June 26 at the Westin Washington, D.C. Downtown Hotel.

Since its inception in 1972, the D.C. Bar has been at the forefront of enhancing access to justice and empowering legal professionals to pursue excellence. It is recognized as the fastest-growing unified bar in the U.S., currently representing over 120,000 members both domestically and globally. More details about the Bar’s operations and resources can be explored at www.dcbar.org.