Diane Patrick

Diane Patrick is a retired partner from Ropes & Gray LLP, having practiced law for over 35 years. At Ropes & Gray, Diane served in several administrative capacities, including as Co-Managing Partner of the firm’s Boston office. She also has a record of distinguished professional and public service. Diane began her legal career at O’Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles. In 1983, she moved to New York to help build O'Melveny’s newly established East Coast practice. Three years later, she moved to Boston, joining the General Counsel’s office at Harvard University as University Counsel, working closely with the President, Vice-Presidents, and Deans of Harvard’s various schools and departments on matters of significance to the University. Later in her tenure at Harvard, Diane was asked to serve the University as Director and Associate Vice President of Human Resources. When former President Clinton appointed her husband, Deval Patrick, as Assistant Attorney General in the US Justice Department, Diane moved to DC, practicing there with Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells). Diane later returned to Boston and joined Ropes & Gray. During her 25 years at Ropes & Gray, Diane provided management-side employment counsel to both public and private companies, and to non-profit organizations primarily in the higher education and health care arenas. She worked extensively at the C-Suite and Board levels of these organizations on high-risk, high-visibility matters. Diane's husband was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2006 and, during her two terms of service as First Lady, she continued practicing on a full-time basis. Diane compassionately and energetically travelled throughout the state and beyond, primarily as an outspoken advocate in the areas of domestic violence and mental health, receiving wide recognition for her efforts. Currently, Diane serves on the Boards of Agiliti, Inc., Mass General Brigham, Epiphany School (where she currently serves as Chair), and WBUR's Community Advisory Board. She has also served on the Boards of The Posse Foundation, United Way of Massachusetts Bay, and Jacobs Pillow. Diane has been honored with numerous awards including as Bostonian of the Year by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Trailblazer of the Year by the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, Champion of the Century by the Massachusetts Health Council, and as the 2019 Public Service Awardee from the Boston Bar Foundation.