About the Author

It was while working as a young journalist in Washington, DC for a major California newspaper covering Congress and the Supreme Court that Diane Kiesel became more interested in becoming a lawyer than in writing about what lawyers did. Switching gears, she graduated from law school, worked on securities and First Amendment cases at a Wall Street law firm and then became a New York County prosecutor in the Office of the legendary Robert M. Morgenthau.

After 10 years prosecuting homicides, sex crimes, corrupt police officers and child abuse, she was appointed to the bench and served nearly 25 years in the criminal term, retiring from the New York Supreme Court in 2023. She never strayed far from her journalistic roots; writing three books while on the bench; Domestic Violence: Law, Policy and Practice [2 editions] and She Can Bring Us Home: Dr. Dorothy Boulding Ferebee, Civil Rights Pioneer.

She continues to write book reviews, teach a course in domestic violence at New York Law School and to write non-fiction. Her latest book, When Charlie Met Joan: The Tragedy of the Chaplin Trials and the Failings of American Law, was released in February 2025. She is a board member of the Biographers International Organization and is also called upon frequently by major news outlets to discuss legal issues on air.