Best Lawyers in America for Collaborative Law: Family Law
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Moving Foward, With Integrity and Respect Kelly Caperton Fischer on doing what’s best for clients: I excel at finding creative and respectful solutions to family law matters, including property and child-related issues. Understanding that each family is unique and has different end goals, I use “collaborative law” as a critical foundation to help clients put settlement at the forefront, negotiate more openly and truly focus on what is best for their family. This results in t...
Raymond A. Traendly , a Florida native, graduated from the University of Central Florida with a B.A. in Political Science concentrating in Pre-Law studies. Mr. Traendly earned the “Dean’s List” throughout his three years at UCF. While at UCF, Mr. Traendly remained involved with his community. Mr. Traendly interned with the Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association and organized community outreach events including expungement events. Mr. Traendly returned home to...
Jeralyn Lawrence is the Managing Member and Founder of Lawrence Law, and devotes her practice to matrimonial, divorce, and family law, and is a trained collaborative lawyer, divorce mediator, and arbitrator. Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, Jeralyn represents clients with matrimonial and family law needs, including divorce litigation, mediation and arbitration, custody and parenting time issues, alimony and child support, separation and property sett...
Lisa R. Zonder is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Collaborative Law: Family Law, Family Law and Family Law Mediation. Lisa R., who practices law in Calabasas, California, has been recognized since 2019. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Lisa R. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Jacqueline A. Whisnant, born in Burbank, California in 1960, has been an Orange County resident since 1985. She and her husband, Bruce Whisnant, have two children. Ms. Whisnant graduated from California State University, Northridge (B.A., 1984) and Loyola Law School of Los Angeles (J.D., 1987). While in law school, she was a member of the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Honors Program and held the position of judicial extern for the Honorable Allan E. Broussard of the California Sta...
Douglas J. Sanderson is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Collaborative Law: Family Law, Family Law and Real Estate Law. Douglas J., who practices law in Fairfax, Virginia, has been recognized since 2020. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Douglas J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Judi Curtin was born in New York City, New York in 1951, and has been an Orange County resident since 1979, following her graduation from law school and admission to the California Bar Association in 1978. She is married and has three children (Jessica is a lawyer, Jordan is a clinical social worker, Jillian is a second-year student at NYU and has her black belt in Shaolin Kempo). Judi is a Certified Family Law Specialist, admitted to the US Supreme Court, and has been rated AV by Martindale ...
Shalini Nangia is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Collaborative Law: Family Law, Family Law and Family Law Mediation. Shalini, who practices law in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Shalini is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Deanna Rusch is an attorney at McKean Smith's Vancouver office. Highly respected as a skilled family law attorney in Southwest Washington, Deanna's poise in court, knowledge of the law, and trial experience sets her apart. She focuses her practice on complex divorce cases (particularly those involving high net worth property ownership and complicated assets), custody cases, relocation, third party custody, modifications, and all other areas of family law. Deanna was drawn to family law over a...
Abigail M. Cohen is a Senior Associate at Gladstone, Weissman, Hirschberg & Schneider, P.A. She is Board Certified in Marital and Family Law by the Florida Bar and a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Ms. Cohen earned her J.D. (magna cum laude) from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she was ranked 7 out of 238 in her graduating class. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Florida. Since her admission to the Florid...
Elizabeth K. Bransdorfer received her bachelor’s degree from the College of Liberal Arts and her law degree cum laude from the Law School, both at the University of Minnesota. Liz specializes in divorce and family law using mediation, and collaborative practice as well as traditional litigation and arbitration. She is admitted to practice in all Michigan state courts, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the United States District Co...
Kristiana Butler is Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and a partner at Goranson Bain Ausley in Austin. With over 13 years practicing exclusively in family law, Kristiana has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America for Family Law, Collaborative Law, and Family Law Mediation (2024–2025), named to Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Family Law (2020–2023), named a Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star (2017–2023), named by Texas Super Lawyers (20...
Sheraz Barkat is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Civil Rights Law, Collaborative Law: Family Law, Family Law and Family Law Mediation. Sheraz, who practices law in Washington, District of Columbia, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Sheraz is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Marina excels in dealing with international and complex family law matters. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) as well as the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and has been consistently named a Washingtonian Top Lawyer since 2015. Always emphasizing the importance of family, Marina is skilled at resolving complex custody and property division cases. Marina serves a wide range of clients, including accomplished career executives, stay-at-home spo...
Taylor Toombs Imel is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Collaborative Law: Family Law and Family Law. Taylor Toombs, who practices law in Houston, Texas, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Taylor Toombs is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.