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Home > All Attorneys > Diandra L. Abate

Diandra L. Abate focuses her practice on workers’ compensation in KPD’s Chicago location, zealously advocating for employers and insurance carriers in related litigation throughout the state. She argues complex matters before administrative agencies and state courts while working with each client to manage risk and obtain favorable results. Diandra is also asked to present at conferences, to claim representatives, third-party administrators, and self-insured employers.

Prior to joining Kopka Pinkus Dolin, Diandra handled workers’ compensation and subrogation cases at another prominent Chicago defense firm, managing all aspects of the litigation process from initial evaluation to resolution.

She graduated from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, majoring in business management, marketing & philosophy, with a minor in political science. Diandra earned her Juris Doctorate from DePaul University College of Law, specializing and earning a certificate in business law. During law school, Diandra was a member of the DePaul Sports Law Journal and the Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity. She also clerked at a prominent complex commercial litigation firm, assisting in trial preparation for cases dealing with corporate breach of fiduciary duty and corporate freeze outs/squeeze outs.

Diandra was born and raised in Chicago, and spends her free time playing golf, going to the gym, and following her favorite sports teams: Alabama Crimson Tide, Chicago Blackhawks, and Chicago Bears.

Awards and Accolades
  • Super Lawyers Rising Star (2022 & 2023)
Memberships
  • American Bar Association
  • Chicago Bar Association
  • Claims & Litigation Management Alliance
  • Workers’ Compensation Litigation Association
Presentations and Publications
  • “Defense Strategies” (October 2022)
  • “Back to Basics: The Human Element,” keynote address, CLM Workers’ Compensation and Retail, Restaurant & Hospitality Conference (May 2022)
Trial and Case Highlights
  • Diandra successfully tried a matter involving a retail parking lot slip and fall on ice. The petitioner alleged that he injured his shoulder while walking to his car after his shift. At trial, Diandra was able to prove that the petitioner walked outside the building to start his car, returned to do some shopping and had been clocked out of work for over ten minutes. Diandra also used the petitioner’s changing storyline to point out that he failed to prove that he slipped on ice or even fell at work. Finally, using diagnostic imaging, Diandra proved that the shoulder injury was pre-existing, and not made better or worse from the alleged fall.
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