Top Best Family Lawyers | 13996 Available

Derek G. Medina, attorney at law, received his law degree (Juris Doctorate) from the University of Colorado School of Law in 2000 and his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado with a double major in Political Science and International Affairs (with distinction), Phi Beta Kappa.. He is active in his community and has participated in the University of Colorado Legal Aid and Defender Program as well as the King County Bar Association Neighborhood Legal Clinic (East Side).  In 2001, he participated in the Washington State Bar Association's Law Day working with young students at a local Bellevue school.. Derek was born in Trinidad, Colorado and moved to Washington state for the first time in 1983.  He fell in love with the area and its people.  After moving back to Colorado during his high school and college years, he has returned and taken up residence in Port Angeles.

Attorney Heather E. Forrler, began practicing law in 2002 after working as a Legal Assistant in Kitsap County for six years. In 2008, she began to focus her practice as a Divorce Lawyer and Family Law Attorney.. Attorney Forrler launched Compass Legal Services, P.S. in January of 2014 to serve as an accessible, client focused resource for Family Law, Divorce, Estate Planning and Business Incorporation in Kitsap County, Washington including our extensive military community. She has helped thousands of Kitsap residents and military service members successfully navigate the legal system in Divorce and Family Law matters including trials, settlement negotiations and non-litigation support.. Heather approaches legal practice from a place of experience, calm logic and pragmatism. This approach allows the strategic use of litigation while minimizing or avoiding entirely the consequences of flippant and unnecessary legal actions. Heather is a highly skilled negotiator, arbiter and trained mediator, training she utilizes in service to her clients daily. She brings the same methodical and thorough approach to Estate Planning clients and those clients starting new businesses and in need of assistance forming a solid legal structure.

I was a newspaper reporter before attending law school, and in my practice I still like to write and meet a wide variety of people the way I did when I reported.. My motto for my family law cases is, "Putting the Children Before the Conflict."  By this I mean that I work to get people divorced with minimal damage to children.  Therefore I best serve divorcing clients who are not petty or hateful, but who want to get through this inevitably painful process as reasonably as possible.. Sometimes aggressiveness is appropriate in family proceedings, and then I will be aggressive.  But far more often I've gotten the best result for clients in family cases by trying to be a peacemaker instead of attempting to demean or hurt the opposing party.  This is crucial when children are involved -- children want, and need, to love both of their parents.  A good family law attorney always keeps that in mind.  My own experience as a father who went through a divorce always informs this attitude.

I am a WSBA licensed family law practitioner in Spokane, Washington.  I practice throughout eastern Washington. My practice includes all family law issues of concern to you, whether it is divorce, legal separation, property division, parenting issues, or even an appeal to a higher court.. My practice model is to serve each client personally.  You will never be handed off to anyone else. I am available by cell or email evenings and weekends for your emergencies.. In addition to my basic family law caseload, I have developed a focus on matters of vital importance to military families including long distance parenting, Military and FERS pension, TSP Retirement division, the SBP, and Base privileges.. Our office tries to practice what we preach.  During the wars in Afganistan and Iraq, our office sent over 10,000 homemade cookies to the TROOPS stationed overseas for the holidays.

I believe that client driven services ensure a successful outcome.  I am committed to earning your trust and work hard to determine to the best course of action for each case.  One of my goals is to make legal proceedings as easy to understand as possible.  I am an effective advocate for my client in representing their important interests.  I never lose sight of how important each case is to each client.  I am dedicated to provide each client with excellend legal services and I am committed to earning your trust.

Hillary Dawn is proud to help people navigate what is often the most emotionally demanding experience of their lives: divorce.. "It’s fulfilling to see my clients come out on the other side of a divorce feeling empowered and in a better place than when they first came to me.”. Because Hillary is a mother of two young children, finding solutions that are in the best interests of the children in a divorce case is especially rewarding to her. She is committed to protecting the children from emotional damage in the process.. A deeply empathetic lawyer, she puts herself in her clients’ shoes and treats their cases as if they were her own family matters.. "I want my clients to know that I genuinely care about them, their children, and what happens with their case.”. Hillary is passionate about serving the LGBTQ community in family law matters. She understands the unique considerations involved in developing parenting plans for LGBTQ families, and is committed to protecting her clients’ parental rights when they are not biologically related to their children.. While Hillary is a relentless advocate in litigation, she strives to avoid it through skillful negotiation. Additionally, her experience in estate planning is a great asset in finding solutions to complicated family problems.. Hillary is an avid fan of the Washington Huskies and all other Seattle sports teams. She loves backpacking, snowboarding, and wakeboarding with her family.

Rita is a founding partner and CEO of McKinley Irvin. With an eye toward the future, Rita works with the firm's operating leadership to maintain McKinley Irvin’s commitment to excellence in law practice, client service, professionalism, and firm management. McKinley Irvin was founded in 1991, is the largest family law firm in the Pacific Northwest, one of the largest in the U.S., and has offices in Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Everett, Issaquah, Tacoma, Vancouver, and Portland.. Rita has over 12 years of experience serving as a director on several boards. She has served on the Executive Committees of each board and has chaired the following committees: Governance, Development, and Collections.. At the University of Washington Tacoma, Rita serves on the Legal Pathways Community Advisory Board, and as a Dressel Scholars Mentor.

Tim Sutherland embodies the fiercely competitive state of his birth, and like that state, he hates to lose. Born in San Antonio, Texas, Tim was raised to believe that every problem has a solution; it just needs to be found. The legal experience Tim has gathered over the previous few years, combined with his natural determination and enthusiasm, makes him an ideal yet unusual attorney.. Tim grew up a military dependent in the United States Air Force and bounced around between several states before his father retired as an air traffic controller after twenty years of service to his country. After graduating from a military high school, Tim attended the University of California at Davis and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He made the Dean’s honor list and participated in the University’s Political Science Honor Program.. While in college, Tim also worked in Sacramento, the capitol of California, for the political arm of the National Rifle Association (NRA-ILA). His duties included tracking and interpreting legislative bills, assisting NRA members with various gun-related inquiries, and occasionally "working" at the firing range.. Tim also spent a summer abroad with his future wife, studying medieval warfare and history at Sterling University in Scotland. While there, he learned the real history behind the movie Braveheart, and visited numerous countries, including England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Austria.. Legal Experience. During Tim’s first year of law school, he worked for a premier boutique law firm in Southern California. Michel & Associates specializes in the areas of firearm law, criminal defense, and contract law. The firm represents such groups as the NRA, California Rifle & Pistol Association, and Second Amendment Foundation, and the California Association of Firearm Retailers. One of the firm’s original partners, Mr. Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich was recently elected Los Angeles City Attorney in 2009.. As a legal clerk for the firm, Tim handled a number of complex matters, including the drafting of an amicus curiae brief to a court of appeals explaining the legal and technical applications of California’s assault weapons laws. Tim spoke daily with the legal department of the firearm division to the California Department of Justice and worked closely with firearm clients.. Tim also assisted in a number of criminal defense matters relating to firearms, ranging from charges of possessing firearms that should have been classified as antiques, pen guns, and assault weapons. In addition to his firearm work, Tim worked on an assortment of other legal matters, including a first amendment freedom of express case, defamation case, and the incorporation of various business entities.. Following his time at Michel & Associates, Tim proceeded to work for the Domestic Violence division of the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office (located near Portland, Oregon). Tim was entrusted with prosecuting the county’s restraining order violations and overseeing the county’s domestic violence deferment program, a program directed at the rehabilitation of domestic violence offenders. As part of the deferment program, Tim worked closely with various woman’s groups, battered women intervention programs, and shelters. In addition, Tim prosecuted physical assaults, cases of strangulation, and other incidents relating to domestic violence. Tim also had the opportunity to work on several felony cases, including prosecution for the sexual assault of a minor and a high profile organized crime capital murder case .. In addition to his work fighting for victims of domestic violence, while studying at Lewis & Clark School of Law, Tim focused on working with the National Crime Victim Law Institute [] (NCVLI), the first institute of its kind aimed at promoting crime victims with comprehensive and meaningful legal rights in the criminal justice system. Through NCVLI’s clinic, Tim helped draft a brief aimed at protecting the identity of a child victim in a criminal sex abuse case. In that same case, they vigorously protected the rights of the child from being forced to testify in open court in front of her offender. Tim also assisted victims of crime with enforcing their rights on appeal after their rights were denied at the trial court level.. Tim also has experience working for the public defender’s office, defending individuals accused of various misdemeanor crimes and has represented clients in an assortment of practice areas, including wrongful termination, real estate issues, and business copyright matters.. Tim currently resides in Tacoma with his lovely wife, two cats, and two rabbits. When Tim isn’t tirelessly working to advance the interests of his clients, he relaxes by exercising and playing softball, watching sports (baseball and hockey), watching Babylon 5 with his wife (the best sci-fi show ever created), and playing online strategy war computer games with his friends. He also helps his wife run her small business, you can see her beautiful art and jewelry at !. Bar Membership. Pierce County Bar Association, Member in Good Standing. Washington State Bar Association, Member in Good Standing. Organizations. The National Alliance of Victims' Rights Attorneys (NAVRA). Education. Juris Doctorate, Lewis & Clark School of Law, 2009. Bachelor of Arts, University of California at Davis,2006. Other Tidbits:. Favorite Books: The Rainmaker (John Grisham); Romance of the Three Kingdoms; The Rise & Fall of the Third Reich (William Shirer). Favorite Sports & Teams: Seattle Mariners (Baseball- American League); San Francisco Giants (Baseball- National League); San Jose Sharks (Hockey- Western Conference). Favorite Movies & Shows: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy; Monty Python & The Search For the Holy Grail; Braveheart; Godfather Trilogy; Batman Begins; Live Free or Die Hard; John Adams (HBO mini series); The Band of Brothers (HBO mini series); Babylon 5.. Favorite Music: Alternative Rock; Classic Rock.

I am licensed to advise and assist with Protection Orders, Divorce/Legal Separation/Committed Intimate Relationships, Paternity, Parenting Plans & Child Support.. Discounted Initial Consults! ($60/hr - general rate $125/hr)I speak Spanish!

Anthony F. Gibbs came to the Puget Sound for the weather in the spring of 2009. After the better part of nine years living in Wyoming, he sought a place to practice law where the temperature remained dozens of degrees above zero most of the time. The prospect of a little rain left him unfazed.. He formed Sounder Law PLLC in August 2020 to provide exceptional legal services in a flexible and accessible manner.. Since earning his license to practice law in Washington State in October 2009, he initially focused on transactional matters, endeavoring to keep his clients out of court to the greatest extent possible by drafting clear, effective contracts and other documents. He has also enjoyed success defending individuals from allegations of traffic infractions and drafting wills and other succession documents. For the last several years, he has practiced almost exclusively family law to his docket.. His background with transactional law has fostered an appreciation for the give and take inherent in family law; that all of life involves compromise and a good outcome under any circumstance is highly contextual and dependent on the individual needs of a client.. He's a believer: the system of laws and regulations in the United States is, in his opinion, without doubt both a giant mess and the greatest legal system ever devised by humanity. While justice may be an elusive beast, it is conceptually available through careful planning, conscientious preparation, and, usually, much hard work.. He also understands that it is better to have a good life than a good lawsuit and, with that in mind, welcomes opportunities to counsel clients regarding solutions which may not involve litigation, when appropriate.. When he is not lawyering, these days he enjoys riding motorcycles, gardening, reading, and cooking.

Family law entails more than just a legal procedure. My clients are dealing with multiple changes in their lives. They have to juggle jobs and budgets, face the prospect of moving, take care of their children, and deal with the inevitable stress that results from family conflict. In sum, they are confronting a total disruption in their family lives--today, tomorrow, and into the future.. It's a highly emotional and personal process. Clients are thrown into an arena they do not understand, without the tools they need to protect themselves and their children...That's where I come in.

Family Law cases are often the most difficult, stressful, and emotional moments in a person’s life. When you look to an attorney for representation you not only want someone who understands the law, you also need someone to examine some of the most private aspects of your personal life without judgement. With years of experience representing people of all backgrounds on both sides of the courtroom, attorney Cameron C.F. Ford can be trusted to deliver the best representation under the law without judgment of your circumstances.. Cameron C.F. Ford is a graduate of Seattle University School of Law, one of the best legal writing programs in the country, with a focus on Family and Criminal Law. During law school, he was Editor-in-Chief of the Seattle Journal for Social Justice, a staffer on the Korematsu Center for Law & Equality amicus curiae brief team, and counsel responsible for Domestic Violence Protection Orders at DAWN. By launching his legal career representing victims of domestic violence in the morning then defending the criminally accused in the afternoon, Attorney Ford gained the skills to be effective for clients under any circumstances and a deep understanding of the other side’s thought processes.. Before joining Community Law, Cameron C.F. Ford provided legal services to prison inmates, including family law legal services. Whether it was finalizing a divorce from a cell, ensuring some contact with kids from prison, or adjusting child support orders after being restrained from the workforce, Attorney Ford could handle the case even under the onerous of conditions of confinement and against the suffocating procedures of prisons across the state. No matter the barriers erected by the state or the other party in your case, attorney Ford is experienced in overcoming them and much worse.. Cameron C.F. Ford believes in responsible negotiation to settle cases as frequently as possible before the burdens and costs of trial. His insight into the opposing party frequently allows a settlement that maximizes his client’s benefit. Attorney Ford feels he ‘wins’ when the client’s settlement is large, but their attorney fees are low. When trial becomes unavoidable, he ensures his client is informed at every step and incorporates the onerous monetary and emotional toll of the proceedings into the arguments before the court.. If you desire a family law attorney you can trust with even your most delicate circumstances, who can sit unmovable against the raging emotions and chaos of a family law proceeding and calmly resolve your case, you will want Cameron C.F. Ford.