Deborah Wald | San Francisco Family Lawyer

In addition to a strong general knowledge of family law, Ms. Wald has three specific areas of expertise: assisted reproduction law, parentage law and the law as it impacts lesbian, gay and transgender families. She has been involved in shaping California’s legislative approach to all three of these areas, and also has three published parentage appeals to her name.  Most recently (and in addition to her retained appellate work), she has been accepting court appointed parentage appeals for children in the dependency system.

A teacher and author as well as a lawyer, Ms. Wald uniquely blends a practitioner’s experience with national and historical perspectives.  She has served as an adjunct professor at both the University of San Francisco and Golden Gate University Law schools.  She publishes regularly in journals such as California Family Law Monthly, the State Bar of California Family Law News, and newsletters of the California Association of Certified Family Law Specialists (ACFLS-CA) and California Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC-CA).

Ms. Wald speaks nationally on contemporary family law issues.  Recent venues include the National Association of Women Judges: the American Bar Association; the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA); the State Bar of California; the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC-CA); and the American Academy of Assisted Reproductive Technology Attorneys (AAARTA) / American Academy of Adoption Attorneys (AAAA).

Ms. Wald also is an experienced criminal defense attorney, having started her career as a public defender and then gone on to focus on indigent criminal appeals.  As a criminal defense lawyer she largely devoted her energy to protecting non-citizens facing deportation or exclusion from the United States as a result of their contacts with the criminal justice system.  She also was a founder of Women Defenders, an organization providing professional, technical and social support for female criminal defense practitioners.

Ms. Wald recently served as a member of the State Bar of California Family Law Executive Committee (FLEXCOM).  She currently is a fellow of the American Academy of Assisted Reproductive Technology Attorneys (AAARTA), and the Academy of California Adoption Lawyers and Academy of California Family Formation Lawyers (ACAL/ACFFL).  Ms. Wald is a member of American and California chapters of the Association of Family & Conciliation Courts (AFCC).  She is the Chair of the National Family Law Advisory Council for the National Center for Lesbian Right (NFLAC), and formerly served on the Board of Directors of Our Family Coalition, the Bay Area’s largest LGBT family organization.  Ms. Wald is a member of the local bar associations of San Francisco (BASF) and Alameda counties, Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF), and the National LGBT Bar Association.  A graduate of Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts, Ms. Wald lives in San Francisco with her partner of many years and their big dog whose responsibility it is to make sure that no matter how busy Ms. Wald gets, she doesn’t forget to start each morning by taking a walk.

School	Degree	Major	Graduation
Northeastern University School of Law	J.D.	Law School	1987
University of Massachusetts	Bachelors		1982

State / Court	Date
California	1987

• Association of Family and Conciliation Courts | Member | 2012 - Present
  State Bar of California, Family Law Section | Executive Committee | 2012 - Present
  American Academy of Assisted Reproductive Technology Attorneys (AAARTA) | Fellow | 2010 - Present
  National Center for Lesbian Rights, Family Law Advisory Council (NCLR NFLAC) | Chair | 2008 - Present
  Academy of Adoption Lawyers and Academy of Family Formation Lawyers (ACAL/ACFFL) | Fellow | 2005 - Present

• A Certified Family Law Specialist | Certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization

• Audiences include:
  
  Lawyers, Judges and Court Personnel
  Family Dispute Resolution and Mediation Professionals
  Educators, Social Workers and Therapists
  Medical Professionals such as Doctors and Medical Students, including Fertility Specialists, Pediatricians and Family Doctors
  Financial Advisors, Financial Planners, CPAs, Estate Planners
  Couples and Individuals Wanting to Explore the Legal Dimensions of their Parenting Options (e.g. adoption, surrogacy, artificial insemination, egg donation)
  

Sun.	Mon.	Tue.	Wed.	Thu.	Fri.	Sat.
	9:00 am - 5:00 pm	9:00 am - 5:00 pm	9:00 am - 5:00 pm	9:00 am - 5:00 pm	9:00 am - 5:00 pm

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