Diane Blizzard is a partner in the Investment Funds Practice Group in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Prior to joining Kirkland, she served as Associate Director of Rulemaking of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management in Washington, D.C., where she led two Division offices responsible for developing policy recommendations and rule changes under the federal securities laws affecting investment advisers and investment companies.
As a former senior regulator, at Kirkland, Diane’s practice focuses on counseling investment advisers on new rules and other regulatory developments that are expected to have significant impacts on private funds and their advisers, and providing insight and guidance to clients in grappling with the practical ramifications to their businesses. While at the SEC, she played a key role in the SEC’s efforts to reform the regulation of money market funds and to implement rules mandated by the JOBS Act and the Dodd-Frank Act, including the Volcker Rule. She also helped shape new regulations designed to enhance regulatory safeguards for the asset management industry, including rules and forms to enhance and modernize data reporting by investment advisers and registered funds, and requiring open-end funds to develop liquidity risk management programs. She was a frequent panelist and speaker at industry-sponsored conferences and the annual SEC Speaks program.
Diane served in a number of other positions in the Division of Investment Management in two tours of duty, including as Senior Advisor to two former Division Directors and as Managing Director of the Division. Between her stints at the SEC, she was Associate Counsel at ICI Mutual Insurance Company. She began her legal career as an Associate at Crowell & Moring in Washington, D.C.
Diane graduated from Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., cum laude) and Duke University (B.A., cum laude) and is a member of the Maryland bar.
