Nancy Nowlis, Attorney

Nancy was born and raised in the great State of Iowa. Her father was an immigrant from Denmark who served in the Danish Army so that he could immigrate to the United States, and then served in the United States Navy during World War II. Her mother was an Iowa native who worked as a registered nurse until retirement. Most of her family continues to live in Iowa, and she returns to Iowa to visit frequently.

Nancy was educated in the small rural town of Andrew, Iowa. She later attended and graduated from the University of Iowa, summa cum laude, and was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa. She also attended and graduated from the University of Iowa Law School with high distinction in 1973. In 1971, she married Christopher, whom she met in Law School. She landed her first job out of law school as a Public Defender in Pittsburgh, where she gained experience doing appellate work and argued cases before the Supreme and Superior Courts of Pennsylvania. In 1975, Nancy's first child was born. Nancy chose to stay at home and continued to stay home after the birth of a second daughter. During that time, she enjoyed home and community activities, including school and art museum volunteer work. The family lived in Washington, D.C., Marietta, Ohio, and Cary, Illinois. In 1983, the family moved to Orange Park, Florida. Nancy rejoined the work force in 1985 by accepting a law clerk position with this firm. She then took and passed the Florida Bar. Thereafter she became an associate, and in 1991 became a partner in that same firm where she remains to this date.

Nancy is a member of the Florida bar and is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell. She has served on numerous bar committees and lectured on family law issues in several bar seminars. She is a Master in the Florida Family Law American Inns of Court.

Nancy has rather unique qualifications to practice in the area of Family Law since she has been a fulltime stay at home Mom and she has also been a fulltime member of the work force who tried to balance job and family responsibilities. Nancy is extremely aware of how stressful the divorce process can be for her clients and is also always aware of the potential problems that divorce can cause for children of divorcing parents. She and her assistant try to be sensitive to the special stresses and concerns that divorce litigants experience and do their best to be helpful to their clients. They also are aware of, and have access to, many other professionals to help meet all of their clients' needs. Her years of experience in the law and in life are of great assistance in helping her clients avoid potential pitfalls and in representing her clients in court.

Nancy has also had a great deal of experience in family appellate practice. She has represented clients in many appellate cases before the District Courts and Supreme Court of Florida. Nancy enjoys the intellectual stimulation of doing legal research and crafting written appellate arguments. The knowledge of the finer points of the law she gains in this area is also very beneficial in trial court practice as well.