“I couldn’t go on in good conscience participating in divorces that were so needlessly destructive to everyone involved. I’ve spent my career finding ways to get better client results without the typical carnage. I want my clients (and their kids) to get fair and equitable settlements and to leave their marriages with their self-esteem functioning in high-gear.”
Lawyer, Managing Partner, Family law specialist
Gretchen Walther is becoming increasingly well known as a strong voice for legal and judicial reform. Insisting that Family Law be more responsive to the actual needs of families, Gretchen is leading the profession in NM to take into account how human beings actually relate to one another, the effects of emotion during periods of stress and how those facts should dictate that Family Law provide more humane choices to divorcing families. These ideas form the basis of her practice, to which Gretchen brings a strong commitment to helping clients understand their choices during separation and divorce.
After an early career during which she earned the reputation of a tough litigator, Ms. Walther sought alternatives to the deleterious process of divorce as traditionally practiced. She is author of Power Imbalances in Divorce Mediation, a definitive source for attorneys seeking to understand the potential pitfalls of mediated settlements. She is Past President and co-founder of the New Mexico Collaborative Practice Group, an association of lawyers and counselors committed to offering an alternative to litigious divorce, while fully representing the best interests of clients. She is a tireless researcher and champion of effective dispute resolution.
Ms. Walther has had cases cited by the federal courts, including Navani v. Shahani, a landmark Hague Convention case, and is regularly invited to present her ideas at the prestigious Law Education Institute Aspen Conference.
MS. WALTHER IS:
- Past president of the Albuquerque Bar Association
- Founding member and Past President of the New Mexico Collaborative Practice Group.
- A New Mexico Super Lawyer since 2011
- Former chair of the State Bar of New Mexico Family Law Section
- Former chair of the Family Law Continuing Legal Education Committee, which provides educational programs for domestic relations lawyers in New Mexico on current and innovative areas of divorce and family law.
- Former Chair of the Annual New Mexico Family Law Institute which brings concentrated learning programs to New Mexico divorce lawyers, judges, and other family law related professionals.
- Committee member of the Second Judicial District Pro Se Challenge Project, a project designed to assist domestic relations litigants who do not have attorneys.
- Appointed by the New Mexico Supreme Court as a Committee member of the New Mexico Domestic Relations Task Force.
- Committee member for the drafting of the Uniform Collaborative Law Act sponsored by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.
- Chair of the Albuquerque Practice Group Public Education Committee which seeks to educate the public about the benefits of Collaborative Divorce.
EDUCATION:
J.D., Pace University School of Law, New York, NY, Dean’s List
B.A., New York University, New York, NY, Cum Laude
Franklin College, Lugano, Switzerland
