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Attorney Profile

Araceli Amaya

 
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I have dedicated my entire professional career to representing clients needing help with family law issues. It is this experience that I will put to work on your behalf.  I consider my advocacy style to be compassionate, honest and assertive. I have successfully tried numerous cases and settled hundreds more with equal or greater success.  I am a litigator. This means I can see an issue, seek to resolve it amicably but if that is not realistic, I have the skills necessary to advance your issues in a court of law.

Being a career family law attorney has taught me several valuable lessons, which I hope resonates with you.  

You have to pick your battles. A successful family law attorney educates his/her clients on what battles to pick. 

A part of my job is to help my clients understand that they have to be selective of the problems, arguments and confrontations they choose to advance. My clients have many issues they have to navigate but the reality is that in the legal realm, not every issue carries the same importance. Being strategic allows me to focus my client’s valuable time, energy, and financial resources on issues that will have the biggest successful impact on their overall goal.

Compassion is a necessary trait of a successful family law attorney.

A person navigating a family law issue is in the unique position of finding someone they once loved and cared for as their adversary. The issues a family law client is facing are not just legal and financial, but emotional.  I am compassionate and empathetic to my client’s circumstances.

A successful family law attorney must be assertive and ready to advocate for their client in any setting. 

I believe that when clients come seeking an aggressive attorney what they are looking for is an attorney who is proactive, responsive, and creative at solving problems. I am that person. Family law clients want a voice and they rely on my expertise in and out of the courtroom to always make sure they are heard.

Publications & Presentations

• Co-presenter, “Take Control of My Financial Life,” Seminar, McKinley Irvin, Lincoln Financial Advisors, and Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, 2017

• Author, “Non-Parental Custody and Burden of Proof,” King County Bar Bulletin,
March 2016

• Author, “How To Fight the Uphill Battle of Non-Parental Custody,” King County
Bar Bulletin, December 2015

• Presenter, “Post-Decree Child Support and Pitfalls to Avoid,” CLE, McKinley Irvin Family Law Speaker Series, 2015

• Family Law Basics, Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Annual Meeting and Convention, July 18, 2019.

Memberships

• King County Bar Association

• Washington State Bar Association

• Washington Latino/a Bar Association

• State Bar of California

• Mother Attorneys Mentoring Association of Seattle

Araceli Amaya

ATTORNEY AT LAW

Education

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF LAW
Juris Doctor

UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND AFFAIRS
B.A.

Distinctions

Super Lawyers Honoree, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

• Distinguished as a Washington Rising Star by Super Lawyers®, 2016-2017

• Rated 10 out of 10 “Superb” on Avvo.com

Avvo.com “Clients’ Choice” Award, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2020

Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for work in Family Law 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

 

LICENSED IN WASHINGTON AND CALIFORNIA