Board Certified Family Law Attorneys in Indiana

Since 1974, the Family and Juvenile Law section of the Indiana State Bar Association has been an organized section.

Through support from the Indiana State Bar Association ("ISBA"), the Family Law and Juvenile Section ("FLJS) has established the Family Law Certification Board (“Board”) as an Independent Certifying Organization ("ICO") in Family Law.

The Board complies with Admission and Discipline Rule 30. Read more about the Standards for Certification of Lawyers Specializing in Family Law in Indiana.

Although no lawyer is required to be certified in family law before practicing in this field, earning this important distinction allows an attorney to declare that he or she is a specialist in family law as certified by the Family Law Certification Board.

The designation does not in any way limit the right of a lawyer certified as a specialist in family law to practice in all fields of law. When searching for a family law attorney in Indiana consider whether the attorney has earned this important designation.

As of June 30, 2014, there were 295 Indiana attorney specialist listings in nine practice areas. Of that group, 68 attorneys were certified as a board certified specialist in Family Law.

The term “family law” is defined as the practice of law dealing with all aspects of the Indiana Dissolution act (all of Title 31) and includes without limitation the following:

• taxation issues incident to family law practice;
• contempt;
• enforcement proceedings;
• mediation and negotiation of family law disputes;
• psychological and counseling aspects of family law;
• family law appellate practice; premarital agreements;
• non-marital domestic relationships;
• child custody in any forum;
• public enforcement of child support;
• paternity;
• adoption;
• children in need of services;
• grandparents’ rights;
• professional responsibility; and
• differences between Indiana law and general family law.

The Purpose of Becoming a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law

The purpose of board certification in family law is to:

1. help the attorney gain recognition for the attorney’s intensive training, education and work concentration in family law;
2. determine uniformly measurable criteria for lawyers who have attained extraordinary competence and efficiency in the delivery of legal services within the field of Family Law;
3. develop and improve the professional competence of lawyers in the area of Family Law;
4. recognize lawyers who are peer recognized as experts in Family Law; and
5. enhance public access to and efficient and economical delivery of appropriate legal services in the area of family law.

Requirements for this special designation include requirements that the attorney must:

1. have been in practice for no less than five (5) years to be eligible for certification;
2. have attended the specified number of CLE seminars on family law topics;
3. complete an application;
4. demonstrate substantial involvement in the field of family law through specific task requirements;
5. submit to peer review;
6. pass a written examination.

In order for the Indiana attorney to become a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law the attorney must demonstrate substantial involvement in the practice of family law. Substantial involvement in the field of family law means that for more than 50% of the attorney’s time he or she is engaged in the following types of legal services:

• Restraining orders/protective orders
• Dissolution of marriage and legal separation
• Custody of children
• Child support
• Spousal Maintenance
• Modification of support
• Division of property
• Taxation issues incident to dissolution of marriage
• Contempt and/or enforcement proceedings
• Mediation and/or negotiation of family law disputes
• Psychological and counseling aspects of dissolution of marriage
• Paternity
• Adoption
• Children in need of services
• Grandparents’ rights

Task Requirements for Board Certification in Family Law in Indiana

Substantial involvement in the practice of family law can be shown through the completion of at least three (3) of the following five (5) categories:

• Principal counsel in thirty (30) contested family law hearings and submitted to a court for a decision;
• Principal counsel in five (5) hearings or trials under the Indiana Dissolution Act or which are otherwise within the definition of Family Law and which are three (3) hours or more in length and involve testimony of witnesses; or
• Other alternative tasks which the Board deems to substantially comply with the foregoing task requirement, including without limitation, evidentiary hearings or trials in other practice areas or successful completion of a recognized trial advocacy program;
• Principal counsel in a minimum of thirty (30) marital settlement agreements, post or pre-nuptial agreements, paternity agreement or stipulated decrees;
• Principal counsel and principal author of the brief in three (3) Indiana family law appeals in which an opinion was filed; or
• Service as mediator in at least thirty (30) family law mediations of one-half (½) day or more.

Alternative Task Requirements can include conducting hearings in circuit or superior court family law as pro tem judge service in contested hearings or trials, teaching a minimum of thirty (30) actual hours of education programs approved by the Indiana Commission for Continuing Legal Education, preparation of a case for contested proceedings under the Indiana Dissolution Act or within the definition of Family Law, or acting as principal counsel and principal author of the pleadings and brief in one (1) appeal and/or writ filed with the Court of Appeals involving proceedings under the Indiana Dissolution Act or otherwise within the definition of Family Law,

The attorney must demonstrate that he or she has participated in a minimum of 36 hours of continuing legal education specifically approved for family law as required by the Supreme Court of Indiana for continued education, within three (3) years prior to the date on which the application is due to be submitted.

The attorney must attain a passing grade on a written examination. The topics tested by the written examination include the areas included in family law, as well as professional responsibility, ethics, and differences between Indiana law and general law.

The Family Law Certification Board recognizes that the practice, experiential and testing requirements of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (“Academy”) are greater than the same requirements of the Board. Therefore, the Board has granted certification and re-certification to each member of the Academy in good standing as of June 8, 2002 who applied for certification, and the Board did not require the Academy member to take and pass the written test of the Board.

Member of the Family Law Certification Board in Indiana

The members of the Family Law Certification Board through October 31, 2013 are:

• Bruce M. Pennamped, Indianapolis (Co-Chair)
• Deborah L. Farmer Smith, Carmel (Co-Chair)
• Suzanne M. Wagner, Fort Wayne
• Andrew Soshnick, Indianapolis
• Andrew C. Mallor, Bloomington
• Teri Lorenz, Terre Haute
• Kelly A. Lonnberg, Evansville
• Paul A. Leonard, Highland
• Katherine Vanost Jones, Evansville
• Leslie Craig Henderzahs, Fishers
• Neil B. Hayes, Fort Wayne
• Jill Goldenberg, Indianapolis
• Kendra Gjerdingen, Bloomington
• Kathryn H. Burroughs, Carmel

Contact Information:

Finding a Family Law Attorney in Indiana

If you need to find a Family Law Attorney in Indiana then consider the benefits of beginning your search by looking at attorneys who have been certified as a specialist by the Family Law Certification Board (“Board”) of the Family Law and Juvenile Section ("FLJS).

The FLJS is an Independent Certifying Organization ("ICO") in Family Law as recognized by the Indiana Bar Association.  Programs for designating board certified attorneys in Indiana helps the public find a qualified attorney.

Although not all qualified family law attorneys in Indiana are certified specialist, those who have become board certified in family law have submitted to a vigorous process to validate their claims of specializing in family law cases.

This article was last updated on Friday, November 22, 2019.