Kansas City Star
TOPEKA — Attorney Diane L. Bellquist has joined the Topeka office of Joseph, Hollander & Craft LLC, practicing in the areas of professional licensure and civil litigation. As the former Assistant General Counsel for the Kansas Board of Healing Arts and former General Counsel to the Office of the State Bank Commissioner, Bellquist has extensive experience with licensing and regulatory laws covering healthcare practitioners, banks, trust companies, money transmitters, payday lenders, mortgage companies, and debt management companies.
“Our firm has a long history of handling professional licensure and regulatory issues, and that sector of our practice continues to grow. An increasing number of professional licensees – both individuals and businesses – face licensing proceedings, whether that’s an application denial, defense against allegations in formal disciplinary proceedings, or petitioning for judicial review of agency actions,” explains Christopher M. Joseph, who heads the firm’s Topeka and Lawrence offices. “As a prosecutor for both the Kansas Board of Healing Arts and the State Bank Commissioner, Diane’s experience gives her a unique understanding of the laws and inner-workings of these agencies. That’s a tremendous asset for our clients.”
In addition to her duties with the firm, Bellquist currently serves as the Staff Judge Advocate for the 190th Air Refueling Wing in Topeka. In 2003, she was direct commissioned into the Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps, and now holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Bellquist is a member of the American Bar Association, the Kansas Bar Association, the Missouri Bar Association, Kansas Women Attorneys Association, the Greater Kansas City Society of Healthcare Attorneys, the Topeka Bar Association, the Women Attorneys Association of Topeka, and the Sam A. Crow Inns of Court.
She currently serves on the Board of the Topeka Bar Association and was honored as the group’s Outstanding Young Lawyer in 2012. She is Past President of the Topeka Bar Association’s Young Lawyers’ Division and Past President of the Women Attorneys Association of Topeka.
Bellquist holds a bachelor’s degree from Moorhead State University in Minnesota, with dual majors in criminal justice and paralegal studies. She holds a juris doctorate from the University of Kansas School of Law where she was a Staff Editor and Business Manager for the Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy.
Joseph, Hollander & Craft LLC has 16 attorneys and offices in Wichita, Kansas City, Lawrence & Topeka. The firm’s primary practice areas include complex criminal defense, civil litigation, management employment and labor law, commercial law and family law.