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Rebecca Simpson Named Fellow of American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
by Mandy Hicks
English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, LLP is pleased to announce that Rebecca Simpson has been named a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML). Comprised of the top matrimonial attorneys throughout the nation, AAML members are recognized as preeminent family law practitioners with the highest levels of knowledge, skill, and integrity. In order to be eligible, each Fellow must successfully complete a rigorous selection process that includes interviews, examinations, and professional peer and judicial evaluations.
Simpson is a Partner with ELPO Law, where she serves as the Chair of both the Family Law Group and the Diversity & Inclusion Committee for the firm. Extensively trained in mediation and collaborative practice, Simpson focuses her legal career on matters impacting children and families — namely adoption, divorce and family mediation. She has significant experience handling complex family law matters, and, using compassion, expertise, and collaboration, she guides clients through some of the most difficult and joyful times in their lives.
Throughout her 20 year legal career, Simpson has been committed to professional excellence, to public service and to the improvement of the practice of law. To that end, she serves as a Guardian Ad Litem for children in Warren Family Court, is a frequent panelist for legal presentations and has also presented and taught students at local schools and at Western Kentucky University. Committed to fostering respectful, equitable and durable resolutions outside of court whenever safe and possible, Simpson is a founding member and the current Board President of Southern Kentucky Collaborative Professionals. She also serves on local and statewide mediation committees and helped develop and implement a volunteer mediation project to assist low-income families in Warren Family Court.
Simpson is an active member of several local, state, national and international professional associations and has held leadership roles in many. She was recently appointed to the Continuing Education Committee, and currently serves as Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, for the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association. Simpson is a Fellow of the Kentucky Bar Foundation, currently serves as Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the Kentucky Bar Association, and is the immediate Past-Chair of the Family Law Section of the KBA. By appointment of the Kentucky Supreme Court, she serves both as a Trial Commissioner to preside over disciplinary actions brought by the KBA and as an IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts) Board of Trustees member.
Simpson’s work has been recognized through several awards. In 2012, the Bowling Green-Warren County Bar Association presented her with the Gwyneth B. Davis Outstanding Public Service Award, and, in 2017, she received the Pro Bono Publico Award. In addition to her professional accomplishments, Simpson is dedicated to her community, having previously served as Board President of the Barren River Area Child Advocacy Center, as a member of the School-Based Decision Making Council for Bowling Green City Schools, and as a member of the Board of Directors for both the Bowling Green Human Rights Commission and the Public Theater of Kentucky.
Simpson is a graduate of Western Kentucky University (summa cum laude) and the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law (cum laude).
Bob Young, Managing Partner at ELPO Law, says, “Rebecca’s leadership in the practice of family law has established her as a preeminent attorney in not only the state of Kentucky, but also nationally as recognized with this designation for her expertise. She is an integral part of the ELPO Law team.”
About the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML)
The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) was established in 1962 and is the preeminent organization for family law practitioners. The AAML is comprised of 1,600 Fellows who are located in every state. The AAML is headquartered in Chicago, IL. For more information go to aaml.org or contact Executive Director Jill C. Peña at jill@aaml.org.
