Diana Simpson

Diana Simpson is an attorney with the Institute for Justice. She joined the Institute’s headquarters office in 2013 after working as a constitutional law fellow in the Arizona office.

Diana litigates cases to secure property rights, promote economic liberty, protect free speech, and support school choice. She is part of the team representing a man who pioneered an innovative community for the homeless on his commercial property in Akron, Ohio; the city is trying to eliminate the community, casting the homeless back onto the streets or into a shelter system they fear, and the property owner is fighting back. In addition, she is lead attorney on a class action lawsuit against the City of Chicago challenging its impound system, which imposes excessive fines and harsh fees on tens of thousands of Chicago residents and visitors each year in violation of the Illinois and U.S. constitutions. She has also represented grassroots speakers in Mississippi and Arizona wishing to engage in core political speech but whose rights were infringed by burdensome campaign finance laws. Moreover, she successfully represented animal massage practitioners in Arizona, who are now free to practice their craft without worry of the state’s veterinary licensing board. She also represented homeowners in Winona, Minn., in a challenge to the city’s cap on rental licenses.

Diana’s work has been featured by The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Arizona Republic, Reason, Stossel, and other print, radio and television outlets. She co-authored Arizona’s Profit Incentive in Civil Forfeiture: Dangerous for Law Enforcement, Dangerous for Arizonans.

Diana received her law degree from the Roger Williams University School of Law in Bristol, R.I., in 2011, where she was president of the Federalist Society. She received her undergraduate degree from Sweet Briar College in Virginia in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and International Affairs. Diana originally hails from Littleton, Colo.

Diana is a member of the Colorado bar.