A Father and Son Dream Team : Joseph, John Diamond Were Law School Classmates

The Diamond family expects no trouble obtaining low-cost legal help.

Joseph E. Diamond, 53, and his son, John J. Diamond, 27, both new lawyers and recent founders of the Diamond Law Firm, are bound to make sure of it.

The father-and-son team attended the University of La Verne College of Law at the same time, graduated last spring, took the state bar exam together during the summer and recently learned that they both passed and can begin practicing law.

A well-meaning relative provided a black-and-gold sign reading “Diamond and Diamond--Attorneys at Law.”

“I feel really good,” said Joseph Diamond, who is quick with a smile and a business card. “I do feel very proud of both of us.”

Like many families coping with tough economic times, the Diamonds view having their own business as a way of protecting themselves. And while other families may boast fathers and sons, husbands and wives, or brothers and sisters who are lawyers, there are few who can say that father and son received their juris doctor degrees on the same day at the same school.

Joseph Diamond, a career accountant, attended law school part time for four years while working full time as a tax manager at an Encino corporation. A slump at the company led to his layoff in August, he said.

Meanwhile, John Diamond, a former telephone psychic who also earned a few dollars playing the guitar, became interested in law school after seeing his father’s enthusiasm.

“I was kind of doing the starving musician thing,” said John, who is far more low-key than his father. “He talked me into it.”

The pair hit the books hard and didn’t see much of each other on campus, which was in Encino before recently moving to Woodland Hills.

Robert M. Barrett, an assistant law professor at La Verne, said he taught both Diamonds but did not realize they were father and son. The two men were not very vocal about their relationship, he said.

Barrett said that one day he asked John Diamond whether he knew the older man.

“Very well,” he recalled John saying without elaboration.

Barrett found out about the relationship by asking Joseph.

“The father is a very ambitious guy. He’s pretty intense,” Barrett said. “John is very understated and quiet.”

The Diamonds say they were simply attending school on different schedules and therefore spent little time together on campus. But it is clear they admire each other’s achievements.

“Not a whole lot of people can go after a second career with the energy and enthusiasm and success that he has so far,” John said of his father.

Joseph said he encouraged his son to pursue a law degree, but John made the decision on his own.

“I felt he needed a profession,” Joseph said, adding quickly: “Certainly he made his own decision. You don’t make it through law school without a lot of work, and he did the work.”

The Diamonds, who work out of the Roscoe Boulevard home they share with Joseph’s wife and John’s mother, Tess, and John’s sister, Deanna, 23, said they are seeking clients. Already, family and friends are pledging their loyalty should some legal matter arise, they said.

Once the business takes off, the all-in-the-family effort is expected to include Tess, who trained at La Verne to become a paralegal.

“We’ll work hard and do good work,” John said. “Everything will work out well.”