Diane Dunning

State of Alabama DHR

Ms. Dunning is a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Birmingham School of Law, where she graduated cum laude.  She is admitted to practice law in the U.S. Federal District Courts of Alabama (Northern, and Middle Districts), and the State Courts of Alabama.  She has worked in the justice system for 32 years, first as a Juvenile Probation Officer and Magistrate, later as a private attorney, and finally as an Assistant Attorney General for the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR). From 1998 to 2007, she handled civil litigation in child protective services, child support, and administrative law hearings. In 2007 she became the managing attorney for the Jefferson County Legal Office, supervising up to 17 attorneys and support staff at various times, while handling complex litigation in the above areas.  Following the passage of the Elder Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 and the Protecting Alabama’s Elder’s Act of 2013, Ms. Dunning was chosen to lead DHR’s implementation and coordination of these acts through attorney, social worker and community partner training and policy revision, in addition to representing the Department in APS matters.  She currently works directly with nine North Central Alabama Counties, including Jefferson County, and consults with various county APS programs across the state.  She has served as an adjunct professor at both the undergraduate and post-graduate levels of several higher education institutions.   She is a member of the WINGS Task Force and the Alabama Law Institute’s Guardianship Reform Committee.