In Memoriam
Diane F. Bosse served as Special Counsel to the firm of Hurwitz & Fine PC in New York, where she assisted the insurance coverage and appellate practice groups. She practiced law for over 40 years, representing self-insured and insurance company clients in a wide variety of litigated matters. Bosse was appointed by the Court of Appeals to the New York Board of Law Examiners in 1998 after having served for 19 years as an assistant to the Board. She served as chair of the Board from 2001–2020. Bosse was a past president of the Defense Trial Lawyers of Western New York and a past member of the boards of directors of the Bar Association of Erie County and of the Western New York Trial Lawyers Association.
Bosse served on the Board of Trustees of the National Conference of Bar Examiners from 1999 to 2008 (chair, 2006–07). During her tenure, she chaired the MEE/MPT Committee, co-chaired the Long Range Planning Committee, and was a member of the Diversity Issues Committee; as chair of the latter she created the Special Committee on the Uniform Bar Examination and went on to serve as a member of that committee. From January 2018 to January 2021, she served on NCBE’s Testing Task Force, focused on the development of the NextGen bar exam.
Ms. Bosse served on the Council of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar from 2014–2021 (chair, 2019–2020). She served on the Section’s Accreditation Committee for six years (2007–2013), including two years as chair; on the Standards Review Committee for three years (2004–2007); and on the Bar Admissions Committee for two years (2002–2004). In 2023, she was named the recipient of the ABA’s Robert J. Kutak Award in recognition of her significant contributions to the collaboration of the legal academy, the bench, and the bar. She received her BA from the University at Buffalo and her JD from the University at Buffalo Law School.
The Diane F. Bosse Award for Excellence and Service in Bar Admissions was established in 2024 to honor a bar examiner who emulates the ideals that Diane embodied—leadership, vision, integrity, and extraordinary service in bar admissions—to enshrine Diane’s legacy and commitment to service in our community, and to inspire a new generation of bar examiners. For more information about the award, please visit https://www.ncbex.org/about/bosse-award.
