Des Moines Family Lawyers

Jason Benjamin has spent the past 23 years immersing himself in the intricacies of Family Law and particularly Child Custody cases. He has personally handled more than 1000 cases where child custody is at issue. He particularly welcomes families who have emergency custody, domestic violence or restraining order issues, as he can typically obtain appropriate orders within hours to protect you and the children. From the beginning of his legal career, Jason has aggressively advocated on behalf of victims of domestic violence (even when domestic violence was not treated seriously by the courts). He understands the complexities of...

After being admitted to the Washington State Bar Association, Ms. Ramirez practiced law in the private sector with emphasis on family law, bankruptcy, estate planning and elder law matters. Ms. Ramirez compassionately advocates on behalf of her clients while she assists them in successfully resolving difficult disputes and navigating through litigation and complex legal issues.

Professional Memberships/Organizations
Ms. Ramirez is licensed to practice in the State of Washington and the United States District Court. She is also a member of the following professional associations:
Washington State Bar Association, Member
King County Bar Association, Member
Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association, Member

Education
Seattle University School of Law,...

We are a dedicated team of legal professionals who are here to help you in your time of need and crisis. Our Washington State lawyers have the resources, the knowledge, and the experience to assist you with your legal matter in our practice areas.

Anna Linden is a dedicated litigator with a personal history of overcoming hardship, adversity, and loss. She is passionate about advocating for her clients, recognizing that they often face some of life’s toughest challenges. Anna is committed to empowering her clients in family law, striving to make a meaningful impact through both negotiations and courtroom representation. A Seattle native, Anna attended Ingraham High School, where she began her career serving food at a residential care facility. She later studied at Knox College in Illinois, organizing fundraisers for the Wounded Warrior Project and food drives for local schools, graduating cum laude with...

Susan has worked as a family law attorney for over a decade handling all areas of divorce and custody cases. Additionally, she has spent many years as a Guardian ad Litem in Washington. This role required hard work and dedication. During that time, she was called as an expert in several trials. She was subject to cross-examination and highly regarded by judges. As a result, she can process complex situations quickly.

In addition to her experience, Susan takes a realistic approach with her clients. She will provide you with information to make good decisions...

Andrew has been a member of the Washington State Bar Association for over 15 years and is an associate attorney at Envision Family Law. For the past decade, he has exclusively practiced in the area of family law to include divorce and custody cases. His wide-ranging background of litigation experience is extensively combined with years of knowledge as a skilled mediator.

Prior to entering law school, Andrew graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in political science. From there, he continued his journey into the legal profession at the University of Maryland School of Law, graduating at the top 10% of...

Kelsey Morfitt is a former United States Air Force attorney and hails from Enumclaw, Washington.

Kelsey graduated magna cum laude from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington and majored in Spanish and Political Science. She graduated cum laude from Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Washington while serving as a member of Gonzaga Law Review and interning for the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office, Washington State Attorney General’s Office Social and Health Services Division, Washington State Senate Committee Services, and the Chambers of Judge Robert Whaley in federal district court. Kelsey also completed service projects in Honduras with...

David Starks is a partner at McKinley Irvin and practices out of the firm’s Kirkland office. David is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers as well as the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. He has been designated to the list of “Top 100 Attorneys in Washington State,” Washington Super Lawyers®, rated 10/10 “Superb” on Avvo, and was chosen as "Lawyer of the Year" in the field of Family Law by Best Lawyers two times. David is driven by a passion for his client’s success and always fights to protect their best interests.

Troy was born and raised in Seattle. He has a large extended family living throughout the Puget Sound region and Washington state. Mr. Courage graduated from Seattle University cum laude, majoring in liberal studies, and earing two minors, psychology, and French. Mr. Courage studied in Grenoble, France, in an immersive French program during his senior year at Seattle University. After working for several years in the field of sales, Mr. Courage attended law school. After graduating from law school Mr. Courage volunteered with the King County Bar Association’s Family Law Mentorship program. The family law mentorship program is where Mr....

Since the day that she became an attorney, Danielle LaBelle has focused her career on family law. Today, her goal is simple: to help families dealing in critical legal circumstances get the patient, caring, and professional guidance that they need. “I want my clients to feel like their voice was heard and their interests were well-represented,” she said.

Nick Lovelace-Andrews specializes exclusively in family law, demonstrating a genuine dedication to assisting individuals navigating various aspects of family legal matters. His practice covers a broad spectrum, including divorce, child custody, LGBTQ family law, and prenuptial agreements. Notably, Nick played a significant role in co-authoring the Marital Agreements chapter in the Washington Family Law Deskbook (3rd ed. 2022), collaborating with Stella Pitts. Before joining Envision Family Law, Nick served as an associate attorney at S.L. Pitts PC for 3 1/2 years and previously contributed as a volunteer attorney with the Housing Justice Project. He obtained his law degree from Seattle University...

I practice primarily in the areas of family law and criminal defense. I believe in client-centered lawyering. I attempt to form a strong bond and relationship with each client. I believe that cases are a team effort between the firm and the client, where the client is the captain of the ship. I make sure each client is steered in the proper direction to obtain his/her goals. Each case and client is different, and with our help each client can achieve their goals, even in the most difficult of cases.


I earned my J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College...

There are two things that are more important than anything to Assistant Managing Attorney Jonathan Moffitt, his faith and his family. Because of these values and his belief that every parent has a right to be intimately involved in the lives and upbringing of their children, Jonathan chooses to practice family law as a primary component of his practice. As a husband and father of four, Jonathan understands the bond between a parent and child. This is a bond that should not be interfered with lightly and one that should be fought for vigorously. Additionally, there are two characteristics that Jonathan values...

Attorney Moses has been defending juvenile and Family Law Clients in the courtroom since 1999. Whether your case is a divorce, legal separation, child custody and support, spousal support, domestic violence, or guardianship, he has the experience and resources necessary to achieve a successful outcome of your case. He has a strong background in defending the rights of individuals, and is competent to handle your case from beginning to end, with thoughtful attention to detail, whether it be at the negotiating table or in the courtroom.

Attorney Cheryl Van Ackeren is passionate about protecting the rights of service members and ensuring that veterans get the benefits they deserve.
Long before graduating from Seattle University’s School of Law, Cheryl knew she wanted to be a lawyer. Cheryl enlisted in the Army at 18 to achieve her goal and hoped to take advantage of the “green to gold” program to become an officer, and eventually, a Judge Advocate General. Cheryl’s military career began in the signal corps with the 1st Calvary Division, Fort Hood, Tx. Her enlistment included a 15 month deployment to Iraq during the early days of...

Over the course of his career, Mark Arend has filled the shoes of a businessman, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, and an attorney. Using his diverse vocational background, he helps clients facing high-tension, complex, and adversarial family law matters. Some of his practice areas include child custody, domestic violence, child support, relocation, high net worth divorce, and military family law.

Mark’s approach to family law is based on common sense, strong ethical standards, and the highest level of professionalism. His goal is simple: to “do better” for his clients than any other legal representative would do. Mark is...

Natalie Roberts has spent the entirety of her legal career mastering her skills in family law. She is well distinguished in the legal community and known for her persistent, intelligent and strategic litigation – both in the court room and in negotiations. When hand-crafting her legal arguments for the court room, Natalie keeps her client’s quality of life and financial stability at the forefront. She understands that every decision/request throughout a case can have major life impacts on her clients such as transporting your children to and from exchanges, ensuring you have enough spousal maintenance to pay your monthly...

Brent Bohan is a family law and divorce attorney with high energy and a powerful drive to obtain the best possible outcomes for his clients. While running a private practice, Brent discovered his talent for family law. He loves helping people solve problems, and family law provided a challenging and rewarding way to do so. Brent now focuses his practice on family law and divorce, including high asset divorce and LGBT family law. Known for being a tough litigator, Brent combines a talent in the courtroom with his ability to develop productive and friendly relationships with the...

Bruce Pruitt-Hamm is an attorney who can litigate, mediate or collaborate.
Litigation- As an attorney with over 20 years experience, Bruce Pruitt-Hamm has been awarded the highest rating by the national lawyer-rating service, Avvo.com. Since graduating in 1994 from the University of Washington School of Law near the top of his class, he has litigated over one thousand cases in a wide variety of areas of the law. Bruce volunteers for the Washington State Bar Association’s “Moderate Means Program“, offering reduced rates to people of moderate means. Bruce’s standard rate is $280/hr.; but he offers discounts for those on legal insurance...

Seattle Divorce Services is dedicated to conflict resolution in complex cases. Our Seattle divorce attorneys believe that our clients are best served by an approach that reduces fighting and allows for agreement building. In high-conflict cases, our Seattle divorce mediation lawyers work to avoid escalating hostility. This approach is designed to reduce the trauma of the divorce experience and prepare clients to move forward in life, also setting the stage for more successful co-parenting.

Sarah is a person (who happens to also be an attorney) fueled by compassion, curiosity, and the desire to see justice prevail. She started her path towards the legal profession at age 7 when she negotiated her first deal: to stay up past her bedtime. She did not win. Several decades later, she applied this and many other life lessons to the practice of law. In her spare time, you can find Sarah at the local dog park trying and failing to get her dog to fetch a tennis ball, playing on the water, listening to music, traveling around this...

Elizabeth A. Hoffman-Graff is an Senior Attorney at McKinley Irvin’s Kirkland office. She practices in all areas of family law, including divorce, domestic violence, unmarried couples, LGBT family law, and more. Elizabeth has been distinguished as a Super Lawyer by Washington Super Lawyers due to her experience, reputation, and consistently exceptional client service.

Shana E. Thompson has achieved success by listening carefully, understanding her clients’ long-term objectives, and helping resolve dissolutions as amicably and expeditiously as possible.For the past 17 years, Shana E. Thompson has been proudly serving individuals in family law cases throughout the cities of Seattle, Everett, and Kent.

Her client base has been built on hard work and determination that has allowed her to become what she is today. She takes great pride in providing top-level service and promises your complete satisfaction when you choose her to handle your legal needs. Shana and her team...

Rita is a founding partner and CEO of McKinley Irvin. With an eye toward the future, Rita works with the firm's leadership team to maintain McKinley Irvin’s commitment to excellence in law practice, client service, professionalism, and firm management. In addition to her work at McKinley Irvin, Rita is deeply involved in the Tacoma community and has served as a director on several local and professional boards. She currently serves on the Legal Pathways Community Advisory Board and as a Dressel Scholars Mentor at the University of Washington Tacoma. Additionally, Rita founded MI’s Black Law Student Mentorship Program where she...

Welcome. My goal is to listen to clients and deliver effective and cost efficient high quality legal services, focusing on maximizing results either through negotiation or litigation, whichever is appropriate for the circumstance. Many cases can be resolved amicably through settlement. This office offers a free initial telephone with a lawyer to discuss your legal issue: (253) 272-1434. With over 20 years of experience in Tacoma in Pierce County, Washington, I represent clients in many other cities and states who are civilians, military servicemembers, and veterans. Because there is often so much...

Kim Schnuelle is a Senior Attorney at McKinley Irvin, one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier divorce and family law firms. Kim has a 10.0 “Superb” rating on Avvo.com and has also been selected for the honor of Washington Super Lawyers®. Kim has a reputation for putting her clients’ needs first and protecting what matters most to them.

Travis Moeller is an associate attorney at Blair & Kim and a recent graduate of Seattle University School of Law. Travis practices criminal defense, family law, and personal injury law. Travis previously worked as a Rule 9 intern at Blair & Kim during his second and third year of law school.

Travis graduated from Seattle University Cum Laude and achieved CALI awards in Legal Writing and Professional Responsibility during his time in law school, which are given to the student who earns the top grade in a class. During law school, Travis was a student fellow at the Fred T. Korematsu...

Debra Synovec, founder of Whole Mediation, Inc., provides skillful mediation services in Seattle, Washington. Whole Mediation offers clients a progressive, productive, and peaceful process to resolve family challenges and create a more balanced, empowering approach to conflict resolution. Debra ‘s mediation and divorce consulting practice primarily concentrates in: divorce, premarital and post-marital agreements, parenting plans, cohabitation and LGBT dissolutions, estate planning, estate administration and small business disputes.?? Debra combines her unique skills acquired as an attorney, CPA and social worker to pragmatically and compassionately help clients address the legal, financial and emotional...

Stacey Smythe joins Law Offices of Molly B. Kenny firm with over 24 years of legal experience, focusing in Family Law, Estate planning and Probate. Stacey Smythe graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a bachelor of arts in Business Administration and Sociology. She received her Juris Doctorate from University of Puget Sound School of Law in 1991, nka Seattle University School of Law. Ms. Smythe is committed to an open line of communication with her clients and recognizes the need to keep clients fully informed of all aspects of their case. Ms. Smythe...

I am an attorney in private practice with the Law Offices of Molly B. Kenny in Bellevue, Washington, where I focus on family law and criminal defense. I am a graduate of Duke Law School Class of 1988, with over 25 years of legal experience.

Ruth focuses her practice on labor and employment matters. Ruth has extensive experience litigating cases in both state and federal court involving wrongful termination, sexual harassment, retaliation as well as gender, race, disability, and age discrimination. Ruth specializes in litigating against corporate employers including, The Boeing Company, Microsoft, Costco, Facebook, Blue Nile, SAP, Amazon.com, Harborview Medical Center, T-Mobile, and Swedish Hospital, among others. Ruth also has experience negotiating severance packages and has a high settlement rate in mediation. Ruth handles the firm’s appellate work in employment and has experience in both Washington’s Court of Appeals and the Ninth Circuit....

John Rosecrans is an accomplished family law attorney with considerable experience litigating complex, high net-worth dissolutions. His calm demeanor and steady, logical approach serve to make the divorce process easier for his clients. Counseling his clients with candor and consideration, John believes in setting reasonable and accurate expectations from the onset of a case. He believes that clients deserve full transparency, which he provides. “I am most gratified when my clients tell me that I communicated well throughout the case, and that it all happened as I said it would.” John is highly regarded in the legal community for his integrity, legal knowledge,...

Sara's focus includes Family Law and Civil Litigation. Sara Kim is a passionate advocate who, in every case, is driven to seek justice for her clients. In private practice since 1995, Sara is a highly experienced family law attorney; she also has a thriving practice in the areas of personal injury and civil litigation.

Keeping a client-centered focus has been fundamental to her success. As Sara explains, “The people who come to me are under a lot of emotional pressure. The point is to make myself accessible: I believe that being there to listen is the only way to truly know...

Scott Semrau is the Managing Partner at Divorce Litigation Partners, a Seattle, WA law firm practicing exclusively in family law. Scott Semrau is an Honors Graduate of Georgia State University and Tulane Law School. Courtroom advocacy has been the cornerstone of his practice since 1994 when he tried his first murder. In 1995 Scott Semrau was awarded the Phelps Dunbar award for outstanding advocacy. Scott Semrau has been selected as a Super Lawyer and awarded an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale Hubble.

Seattle Divorce Services is dedicated to conflict resolution in complex cases. Our Seattle divorce attorneys believe that our clients are best served by an approach that reduces fighting and allows for agreement building. In high-conflict cases, our Seattle divorce mediation lawyers work to avoid escalating hostility. This approach is designed to reduce the trauma of the divorce experience and prepare clients to move forward in life, also setting the stage for more successful co-parenting.

Caitlin has over 15 years of experience working in the legal field in Clark County, first as a paralegal and later as an attorney. Throughout her career, Caitlin's primary focus has been on family law. In addition to family law, Caitlin has experience working as a law clerk for a large Southwest Washington law firm where she gained additional experience in civil litigation, real estate litigation and business formation. While Caitlin has experience in a range of legal fields, she finds most satisfaction in representing litigants in family law matters. Recognizing that these transitions can be a difficult time for many...

Lindsay Noel is an attorney at McKinley Irvin’s Puyallup and Tacoma offices. As a divorce and family law attorney, Lindsay is experienced in a wide range of legal issues, such as custody, support, relocation, military family law, LGBT family law, and more.