President
Linda B. Fieldstone, MEd

Linda Fieldstone is Supervisor of Family Court Services of the 11th Judicial Circuit. She is also a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator, working with high-conflict families within the Miami-Dade County Domestic Relations Division as a parenting coordinator. Ms. Fieldstone has provided numerous trainings regarding intervention with high-conflict families and parenting coordination, nationally and throughout Florida. She served on the AFCC Parenting Coordination Task Force to develop Guidelines for Parenting Coordination as well as on numerous taskgroups and Florida Supreme Court committees on the subject. She is also a past president of the Florida Chapter of AFCC.

President Elect
Arnold T. Shienvold, PhD

Arnold Shienvold is the founding partner of Riegler, Shienvold & Associates. Dr. Shienvold received his Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Alabama and has specialized in dealing with high-conflict families since he began his practice in 1980. Dr. Shienvold is a member of the American Psychological Association and is a fellow of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association where he also serves on the custody evaluation task force. Dr. Shienvold is a past president of the Academy of Family Mediators and a past president of the Association for Conflict Resolution. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Council of Mediators.

Vice President
Nancy Ver Steegh, JD, MSW

Nancy Ver Steegh serves as Vice Dean for Academic Programs and Professor of Law at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she teaches family law, domestic violence, and alternative dispute resolution. Her publications include articles about child custody and domestic violence, mediation and domestic violence, and mandatory divorce education. She is a coauthor of Work of the Family Lawyer and Family Law: Examples & Explanations. Professor Ver Steegh is a frequent presenter at national conferences and is a member of the board of editors of Family Court Review and Family Law Quarterly. She was the 2008 recipient of the AFCC President’s Award recognizing her work promoting interdisciplinary cooperation in the field of domestic violence.

Secretary
Richard L. Altman, JD

Richard Altman is the Magistrate for Henry and Fulton County Ohio Courts of Common Pleas. Prior to this position he was the mediation coordinator of a multi-county mediation program. He has worked as an attorney and mediator in the areas of civil law, domestic relations and parenting issues. Magistrate Altman has been a frequent presenter for organizations such as the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio Judicial College, the Wisconsin Association of Mediators and AFCC. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, where he has served as chair of the Dispute Resolution Committee, and is also a member of the American Bar Association and several local bar associations.

Treasurer
Annette T. Burns, JD

Annette Burns was admitted to the State Bar of Arizona in 1984 and is certified as a Family Law Specialist. She served as a Judge pro tem in the Maricopa County Superior Court from 1992-2005. Ms. Burns was a member of the Executive Council of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Arizona from 1994-2007, and was chairperson of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Arizona in 1999-2000. She is a past president of the Arizona Chapter of AFCC. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML). She served on the Arizona Supreme Court Committee that created the Family Law Rules in 2005, and is currently chairperson of the Family Law Practice and Procedure Committee of the State Bar of Arizona. She recently coauthored the Arizona Family Law Rules Handbook for Thomson West publications.

Past President
Robert M. Smith, JD

Robert Smith is an attorney and mediator with an emphasis on high-conflict family law cases, and regularly serves as a Child and Family Investigator, Child Legal Representative and Guardian ad Litem in judicial districts throughout Northern Colorado and the Denver Metro area. He received his Bachelor's degree in English literature from Stanford University in 1961 and a Master of Divinity degree, with an emphasis in counseling, from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1974. He earned his law degree from California Western School of Law in San Diego in 1995 and is licensed to practice law in Oregon and Colorado.

Hon. Peter Boshier

Judge Boshier was appointed as the Principal Family Court Judge of New Zealand in March 2004, after serving on the District Court Bench since 1988. He has worked extensively in the management of the Family Court and judicial system, resulting in a number of changes to court processes. Judge Boshier has a particular interest in Pacific youth justice and child offenders. In 1999, he wrote the Child Offenders Manual, which gives practical guidance to intervention with child offenders. In 2002, he was seconded by the New Zealand Government to join the Pacific Judicial Education Programme based in Suva. As Principal Family Court Judge, Judge Boshier is committed to working with the government to continue to reform the court to ensure efficient and economic access to justice. In 2006, Judge Boshier was nominated by the New Zealand Listener as being in the top fifty outstanding New Zealanders.

Hon. Diana Bryant

Chief Justice Bryant was appointed as Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia in 2004. She had previously been the inaugural Chief Federal Magistrate overseeing the establishment of the Federal Magistrates Court, a position which she held for four years. At the time of her appointment as Chief Federal Magistrate, Chief Justice Bryant had been practicing at the Victorian Bar for ten years, specializing in family law and defacto property disputes, particularly at appellate level, and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1997. She attended Melbourne University and was admitted to practice in Victoria in 1970. She then moved to Western Australia and was a partner with the firm of Lavan & Walsh (which became Phillips Fox) in Perth. Chief Justice Bryant holds Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws degrees. During her period in practice prior to her appointment to the Bench, Chief Justice Bryant served on many law societies and bar committees as well as being a board member of Legal Aid both in Western Australia and Victoria. While in Western Australia, Chief Justice Bryant was a board member of Royal Perth Hospital and a director of Australian Airlines. She received a Centenary Award in 2001.

Andrea Clark, MSW

Andrea Clark is a trained mediator with the Domestic Relations Services Unit (DRS) of the Family Court of St. Louis County, Missouri, where she has worked for more than 25 years. She works with parents and children by court referral to assist them in developing and carrying out custody plans. Ms. Clark earned a Master in Social Work from St. Louis University (1978), a Certificate in Marital and Family Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis (1988), and trained in mediation with Zena Zumeta (1995). She is one of the founding members of the Missouri Chapter of AFCC, where she is an active member of the MO-AFCC Board of Directors, a past president of the board, and co-editor of the bi-monthly chapter e-newsletter.

patti cross, JD

patti cross earned her B.A. from the University of Toronto in 1987 and graduated from the University of Toronto Law School in 2000. After taking her first family law course, she was hooked. Her career as a lawyer has focused on family courts. Ms. cross articled and worked to her current position as the Family Counsel for the Office of Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice. Today, she advises the Chief Justice on family policy and legislative issues and other matters of interest to family judges. She was the co-chair for the AFCC Ontario's Coordinating Committee to establish the AFCC Ontario Chapter and was the chapter's first President.

Robin M. Deutsch, PhD

Robin Deutsch is a psychologist and the Director of Forensic Services for the Children and the Law Program in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School. She practices as a therapist, consultant, custody evaluator, mediator and parenting coordinator. She is a member of the board of editors of the Journal of Child Custody. Dr. Deutsch is a past president of the Massachusetts Chapter of AFCC. She is the coauthor of 7 Things Your Teenager Can’t Tell You (and How to Talk About Them Anyway).

Hon. Dianna Gould-Saltman

Dianna Gould-Saltman is a judge of the Los Angles County Superior Court in California, appointed in 2010. She is a Certified Family Law Specialist (the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization) who practiced law with the law firm Gould-Saltman Law Offices, LLP in Los Angeles. She is a fellow of the American and International Academies of Matrimonial Lawyers. Ms. Gould-Saltman serves on the Leadership Council of the American Bar Association Family Law Section and chairs that section's ethics committee. She serves on the editorial boards of the ABA/FLS Family Advocate and the Journal of Child Custody.

Hon. R. John Harper

Justice Harper graduated from Dalhousie University Law School in 1972. He was called to the Ontario Bar in March 1974. He was a sole practitioner from 1974 until 1997 when he formed the family law partnership of Harper Jaskot. He was certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a specialist in family law until his appointment to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in September 2006. Justice Harper was a part time associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at McMaster University. He lectured residents and psychiatrists on law and mental health issues and he was the legal advisor to the Child Advocacy and Assessment Program at McMaster University Hospital. He is a past vice chair of the Community Child Abuse Council. Justice Harper is a frequent presenter at continuing education programs, both national and international.

Grace M. Hawkins, MSW

Grace Hawkins is the Director of the Family Center of the Conciliation Court in Tucson, Arizona. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from Arizona State University and is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Arizona. Ms. Hawkins has worked for the Conciliation Court since 1990 and became the director in January 2005. She served on the board of directors of the Arizona Chapter of AFCC from 2004-2009 and is an advanced practitioner member of the Association for Conflict Resolution.

Mindy F. Mitnick, EdM, MA

Mindy Mitnick is a Licensed Psychologist practicing in Minneapolis. She received a Master of Education from Harvard University and a Master of Arts from the University of Minnesota. She specializes in complex custody cases, working as an evaluator, therapist and parenting consultant. Ms. Mitnick has trained professionals throughout the country about developmental issues in parenting schedules, effective interventions in high-conflict divorce, assessing allegations of sexual abuse during divorce disputes, and the use of expert witnesses in divorce cases. She has been a speaker for the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, National Association of Counsel for Children, the National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse, the Ontario Office of the Children's Lawyer, and numerous statewide training conferences. Ms. Mitnick served on the Minnesota Supreme Court Task Force on Parental Cooperation and the American Bar Association working group to update guidelines for child witnesses in criminal cases. She currently serves on the AFCC Task Force on Court-Involved Therapy and is a board member of the Minnesota Chapter of AFCC.

Hon. Graham R. Mullane

Justice Mullane is a retired judge of the Family Court of Australia. He practiced as a solicitor from 1971 through 1986. He served as judge in the Family Court of Australia from 1986 until his retirement in 2008, serving on and chairing many of the court’s committees. He was the regional coordinating judge for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory from 2004 to 2008. He is an honorary life member of the NSW Law Society, Conjoint Professor in Law at the University of Newcastle, Costs Assessor for the Supreme Court of NSW, Consultant to Mullane & Lindsay and part time Judical Member of Legal Services Division of Administrative Decisions Tribunal of NSW.

Marsha Kline Pruett, PhD, MSL

Marsha Kline Pruett is a licensed clinical psychologist and the Maconda Brown O’Connor Professor at Smith College School for Social Work. She is researcher, mediator, and consultant to couples, attorneys, and judges. Dr. Kline Pruett has a national reputation for the development, implementation, and evaluation of preventive interventions in courts and family-focused community agencies. She has written extensively for academic and lay audiences, coauthoring Your Divorce Advisor (2001) and Partnership Parenting (2009). She is a member of the board of editors of the Family Court Review. She was awarded the AFCC Stanley Cohen Distinguished Research Award in 2004. The California Supporting Fatherhood Involvement (SFI) project is currently a major focus of her intervention and research efforts.

Matthew J. Sullivan, PhD

Matthew Sullivan is a forensic family psychologist, practicing in Palo Alto, California. He received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in clinical/community psychology from the University of Maryland. He is currently serving on the editorial board of the Journal of Child Custody. He has served on the AFCC Task Force on Parenting Coordination and the American Psychological and American Bar Association working group on legal and psychological interventions with children and families. He is currently the co-chair of the AFCC Court-Involved Therapist Task Force.

Larry V. Swall, JD

Larry V. Swall is Executive Director of M.A.R.C.H., Inc. (Mediation Achieving Results for Children) and a family attorney in Liberty, Missouri, with Larry V. Swall & Associates, LLC. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Law, 1990, where he also did his masters work in philosophy, and San Diego State University, where he earned his BA in Philosophy in 1987. His private practice is concentrated in areas of family law and domestic relations, including family mediation and parenting coordination. Mr. Swall was honored in 2009 by the Missouri Bar Association with the President's Award for Distinguished Service to the Bar and the Roger P. Krumm Family Law Practitioner of the Year Award. Mr. Swall is a member of the Missouri Bar Family Law Section, serving as Chair, as well as serving on the Family Law Legislative Review Committee and the CLEW Committee; he was Planning Chair for the Missouri Bar Annual Family Law Conference for seven years beginning in 1999; and a member of the Missouri Supreme Court Child Support Guidelines Review Committee 2008 and 2009. Mr. Swall is a past President and founding member of the Missouri Chapter of AFCC.