Allison Mendel, Founding Owner
Allison Mendel has lived in Alaska since 1982. She received her law degree from U.C. Davis King Hall School of Law in 1980, where she received the Order of the Coif. In the summer of 1979, she clerked for the Alaska Supreme Court. From 1980 - 82, she clerked for Judge Betty Binns Fletcher of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. On returning to Alaska, she worked for Jermain, Dunnagan & Owens and Alaska Legal Services before opening her own practice in 1987. Since then she has been in private practice doing family law, civil rights, and appellate matters in both state and federal courts. Her wide-ranging appellate practice has resulted in numerous reported decisions in the Alaska Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and the Ninth Circuit. She has also been at the forefront of litigating issues relating to the legal rights of same-sex partners and their children. She was instrumental in launching the Alaska Association of Collaborative Professionals, introducing the practice of collaborative family law toAlaska. Her practice now consists about equally of collaborative and litigation cases. Allison was named a “Super Lawyer” in the area of family law inAlaska in 2007, 2009, and 2011.
Allison has served two terms on the Alaska Bar Board of Governors, including one term as Vice President, and has also served on the Committee of Bar Examiners, Fee Arbitration, and Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection Committee. She was formerly co-chair of the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association (now the National LGBT Bar Association), an organization of which she has been a member for twenty years. Currently, she is a member of the National Center for Lesbian Rights National Family Law Advisory Council. She is also a member of the American Bar Association and its Family Law section, and is a Fellow of the ABA. Allison has four children and four grandchildren. She spends her free time traveling, gardening, biking, and camping.
