Hi, I’m Laura Diamond—immigration attorney, author, mom, blogger, and traveler, with a deep passion for stories that move hearts and change lives.
I was raised to believe in the power of the law to challenge injustice, improve lives, and reshape systems.
My parents modeled their values by their actions. From my earliest years, I learned by example to advocate for what you believe in and to have fun and love big while you’re doing it.
After graduating from UC Berkeley School of Law, driven by a passion for impact litigation, I started my career as a public interest lawyer, working with other advocates to create lasting change on behalf of vulnerable groups, including foster children, detained juveniles, persons with disabilities, and low-income communities impacted by pollution, to name a few. I was privileged to practice in both state and federal courts, at trial and appellate levels.
I stepped away from full-time legal work to focus on raising my two sons, a chapter that taught me as much about resilience, patience, and advocacy as any courtroom. During those years, I rediscovered and nurtured my lifelong writing habit, which had always been and remains my way of making sense of the world. I share reflections on my blog, where I explore themes of parenting, social justice, and the everyday beauty and absurdity of life.
My debut novel, Shelter Us, was published in 2015. It received critical acclaim, including the Gold Medal for Literary Fiction from the Independent Publishers Book Awards and the National Indie Excellence Award. I loved traveling around the country to bookstores, meeting readers, authors, and booksellers, and dragging my family with me.
In 2018, I felt called back to law with renewed purpose, in response to the alarming and cruel treatment of immigrant families at the U.S. border. When activists asked me to represent a teenage asylum seeker locked in adult detention, I initially resisted because I did not feel capable. My younger son persuaded me that I had everything I needed to succeed. I am so glad I listened to him.
Today, I serve as an immigration attorney representing unaccompanied children seeking safety in the United States. It is deeply meaningful work—equal parts legal and human—grounded in the belief that every child deserves protection and dignity. The courage and determination of my young clients and their adult sponsors inspire my advocacy, touch my heart as a mom, and infuse my writing with hope and urgency.
One more thing, if you’re still reading. Before I became a lawyer or a writer, I was always a dancer, from my first ballet class at the Palisades Recreation Center, to Pali High musicals, and the performing arts community at my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, where I earned my BA.
And though no one has ever confused me for a prima ballerina, dance has always been a soulful form of expression for me, one I continue to pursue for pleasure—because doing what you love, regardless of mastery, makes life meaningful. And during these troubled times, cultivating joy is more essential than ever.
Laura Nicole Diamond 