Diane Swierczynski
Diane Swierczynski is a partner at Clark, Hunt, Ahern & Embry, the top firm in Cambridge for injured individuals and homeowners. Her areas of concentration are: catastrophic injury, automobile negligence, premises liability, property casualty subrogation, construction accidents, other types of personal injury and defective workmanship.
Ms. Swierczynski has an AV rating (the highest rating) from Martindale-Hubbell, the country’s leading peer review rating system. Only 5% of the women lawyers in the United States have achieved this coveted rating. An AV rating is an objective indication that she has the highest professional ability and ethical standards.
Ms. Swierczynski is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in Massachusetts and the state courts of Rhode Island. During her career, she has handled cases in nearly all counties of the Commonwealth. In addition to scores of jury trials, she has also handled numerous cases in front of the Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. These include MacDonald v. Lavery, an oft-cited case in the area of intentional versus negligent torts, Callahan v. First Congregational Church, a case establishing that the First Amendment protects against court intrusion into matters of church governance for congregational and not just hierarchical churches; and Rhodes v. Beacon Sales, with CHAE partner Bill Ahern, where they prevailed in this seminal case which tremendously increased subrogation recoveries for insurers in workers compensation third party actions.
In addition, Ms. Swierczynski has been an instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, teaching trial advocacy to practicing attorneys, and participated in the highly selective Trial Advocacy Program of Travelers Insurance Company. Attorney Swierczynski also serves as a reference panelist for fire loss arbitrations.
A 1981 graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Ms. Swierczynski went on to graduate in 1984 from Suffolk University Law School in Boston. She then began a career that has been devoted exclusively to civil trial work – litigation, trials, arbitration and mediation. This dedication has produced favorable results in hundreds of cases.
Professionally, Diane Swierczynski is a member of the National Association of Subrogation Professionals, the Women’s Bar Association and the Essex County Bar Association. In service to the community, she is on the Board of Directors of the East Cambridge Business Association and an active member of the Beverly Rotary Club and the Beverly Music and Performing Arts Association.
Areas of Practice
- Trial
- Subrogation
- Personal Injury
- Commercial Insurance
- Defects
- Insurance Subrogation
- Motor Vehicle
- Property & Casualty
- Complex Litigation
- State Trial Practice
Litigation Percentage
- 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
Bar Admissions
- Massachusetts, 1985
- Rhode Island, 1999
- U.S. District Court District of Massachusetts, 1985
- U.S. Court of Appeals 1st Circuit, 1985
Education
- Suffolk University Law School, Boston, Massachusetts
- J.D. - 1984
- Mount Holyoke College , South Hadley, Massachusetts
- B.A. - 1981
- Major: History
- Major: Politics
Representative Cases
Representative Clients
- Travelers
- Middlesex Mutual Assurance Co
- Holyoke Mutual Insurance Co
- Sedgwick CMS
Classes/Seminars
- Instructor - Deposition Skills, NITA
- Lecturer - Center for Women & Enterprise
Professional Associations and Memberships
- East Cambridge Business Association, Director
- National Association of Subrogation Professionals
- National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Instructor
- Rotary Club of Beverly
- Essex County Bar Association
Past Employment Positions
- Swierczynski Associates, Managing Attorney, 1993 - 1998
- Linehan, Gallagher & Mahoney, Associate, 1988 - 1993
- Badger, Sullivan, Kelley & Cole, Associate, 1985 - 1988
