SKELLENGER BENDER - Key Persons
Abbey McMahon is an Associate at the firm. Abbey is a seasoned negotiator and litigator, focusing her practice on all types of family law matters including marital dissolutions, parentage actions, child support proceedings, parenting and child support modifications, minor guardianships, non-traditional family law matters, and domestic violence protection orders as well as helping individuals and families in the involuntary treatment (ITA) process.
Prior to joining Skellenger Bender, Abbey practiced for 15 years with the King County Department of Public Defense, also serving as Training Coordinator. Her practice concentrated on family defense, representing children and parents in dependency, termination, and guardianship proceedings as well as Child Protective Services investigations. Abbey also worked extensively in therapeutic courts and civil commitment courts, as well as trial rotations in the King County District and Seattle Municipal Courts.
Abbey has presented and published on various legal topics with a particular focus on Mental Health Law. Relatedly, Abbey has taught Mental Health and the Law at the University of Washington, and she co-taught the nation's first mental health law clinic at the Seattle University School of Law.
Elizabeth ("Betsy") Hershman-Greven is the Managing Principal of the firm. Betsy is a seasoned litigator, a collaboratively trained lawyer, and an effective mediator. Betsy handles a wide range of family law matters including dissolutions of marriage, domestic partnerships, Committed Intimate Relationships, complex asset divisions, parentage, parenting and child custody, child support, and LGBTQIA+ specific family law issues.
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Principal Firm President
Caleb Oken-Berg Bonm is a Principal attorney at Skellenger Bender, P.S., where he also serves as the firm's President. Caleb's practice focuses exclusively on family law, including divorce/dissolution, domestic partnership issues, complex asset divisions, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, parenting plan and child support modifications, child custody, parentage actions, and LGBTQ+-specific legal issues. Caleb also assists families with adoption and assisted reproductive technology (ART) legal matters such as donor agreements and surrogacy agreements.
Caleb regularly represents clients in the unique and complex area of international family law, including international child custody issues, divorce with international financial issues, and international jurisdictional matters in the context of family law. Caleb handles international child abduction cases in both state and federal court, including matters involving the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. He also serves as a resource and mentor for attorneys in the area of international child custody issues.
In addition to his representation of family law clients, Caleb serves as a neutral by assisting parties in resolving family law disputes as a mediator and arbitrator. He also serves as a Family Court Commissioner pro tempore in King County Superior Court.
Caleb is admitted to practice in the federal and state courts of Washington, and United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 2015, Caleb founded a pro bono family law legal clinic for patients and community members associated with the Sea Mar Community Health Center in the South Park neighborhood of Seattle.
Caleb is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, American Bar Association, King County Bar Association, and the William L. Dwyer Inn of Court in Seattle. He is also past President of Q-Law (LGBTQ+ Bar Association of Washington) and is a member of the National LGBT Bar Association's Family Law Institute. Caleb is the author of the "Same-Sex Dissolution Issues" chapter of the LexisNexis Washington Family Law Practice Guide. In 2016, Caleb was recognized as one of the 40 Best LGBT Lawyers under 40 in the U.S. by the National LGBT Bar Association, and he has been named a Washington Super Lawyers "Rising Star" every year since 2017.
Charles is a Principal of the firm. Charles is an experienced trial attorney whose practice focuses on family law litigation, emphasizing complex marital dissolutions of high net worth marital estates, often involving business valuations and separate property tracing. He also has broad experience with contested parenting matters, child support and parenting plan modifications, and domestic violence issues.
Christina Robinson is an Associate at the firm. An experienced litigator with a background in public defense, Christina has practiced law in both Washington and Florida.
Prior to joining Skellenger Bender, Christina worked with Leinoff & Lemos, P.A., a premier family law firm in Florida. Christina also has experience working with children and families from her time at the Miami-Dade County Public Defender's Office, where she served as an Assistant Public Defender in the Juvenile Unit, and as a legal intern at the University of Miami School of Law's Children & Youth Law Clinic. In her most recent role as a Public Defense Attorney at the King County Department of Public Defense, Christina advocated for clients in district court and in superior court in the drug offender sentencing alternative (DOSA) program with determination and diligence. In her approach to working with clients, Christina is compassionate and results oriented.
Christina received her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law and her B.S. in Neuroscience, magna cum laude, from the University of Miami. She is a member of both the Order of the Coif and Phi Beta Kappa.
Cynthia F. Buhr is Of Counsel to the firm. Cynthia assists clients with family formation and dissolution, including parentage establishment, property status agreements, child custody and support, complex asset divisions, committed intimate relationships (unmarried couples), adoption, estate planning, and assisted reproduction technology (ART) matters, with a focus on helping multi-parent, non-traditional and blended families navigate the legal system.
Cynthia has spoken frequently before public and professional groups on LGBTQ+ legal issues and other family law matters and teaches family law as an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law. As a board member of the QLaw Foundation, Cynthia helped establish the QLaw Foundation LGBTQ+ Legal Clinic and Family Matters specialty clinic. Additionally, Cynthia is a graduate of the Washington State Bar Association Leadership Institute and is a Past President and founding board member of the QLaw Association of Washington.
Cynthia joined Skellenger Bender after having practiced family law for over 14 years in King County as a small firm owner. Prior to working in private practice, Cynthia served as a judicial extern for now Supreme Court Justice Mary I. Yu and as a law clerk at the ACLU of Washington. Currently, Cynthia regularly volunteers with the QLaw Foundation Legal Clinic. Cynthia is also a trained collaborative lawyer and mediator and participates in the King County Volunteer Settlement Conference Program.
Elizabeth Bianchi is Of Counsel to the firm. Elizabeth focuses her family law practice on dissolutions of marriage, complex financial issues, child support, child custody and parenting plans, relocations, and post-dissolution enforcement matters including modifications.
Elizabeth received her J.D. from Georgia State University, and her B.A. from the University of Washington. She has been recognized as a Washington state Super Lawyers "Rising Star" by her peers in multiple years.
Elizabeth is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, the Washington State Bar Association Family Law Section, the King County Bar Association, and the King County Bar Association Family Law Section.
Elizabeth has been practicing exclusively family law in Washington state since 2004. She is a former volunteer with the King County Bar Association's Family Law Clinic, where she provided legal advice on a range of family law issues including domestic violence, divorce, child support, child custody, and parenting plans.
Elizabeth Mount Penner is an Associate at the firm. Elizabeth started her career in family law before transitioning to criminal defense, where she spent several years representing clients facing grim and serious charges. This experience honed her ability to get results in court and at the negotiation table.
Job Titles:
- Front Desk / Legal Assistant
Jennifer E. Wellman is a Principal of the firm. Her practice is focused on criminal defense in federal and state courts, counsel to individuals and businesses facing investigations and inquiries from federal and state regulatory agencies, and civil rights litigation.
Before joining Skellenger Bender in 2022, Jennifer was the Supervising Attorney at the Federal Public Defender's Office for the Western District of Washington. Early on in her career, Jennifer was in private practice, beginning as an attorney with the Houze Law Firm in Portland, Oregon, where she worked on serious criminal matters in federal and state courts throughout Oregon. For over 27 years, Jennifer has provided exceptional advocacy for persons charged with a wide variety of misdemeanor and felony offenses, in all stages of litigation including Grand Jury, trial, appeal and post-conviction. She has also provided counsel and advocacy for individuals under investigation by state and federal government regulatory and law enforcement agencies, where no charges were ultimately filed. She is well known for her tenacity, compassion, and effectiveness, as well as for having successfully handled numerous trials and appeals, including the successful challenge to indefinite detention of persons ordered deported in Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001).
Jennifer applies her unique criminal defense experience and litigation skills in challenging and complex government and regulatory investigations, including investigations by the Federal Aviation Administration, Washington State Bar Association, and the Department of Health, as well as in her civil rights practice, which is focused on cases involving police misconduct, including excessive force and racial discrimination.
She is admitted to practice in California and Oregon, the federal court in Alaska, as well as in the federal and state courts in Washington. She is also admitted to practice in United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Jennifer's professional activities have included President of the Federal Bar Association for the Western District of Washington (2013), Co-Chair of the Ninth Circuit Lawyers Representatives, (2013-2015), and founding member of the William L. Dwyer Inn of Court (2002-2004). She is a volunteer attorney with the Federal Civil Rights Legal Clinic (since 2013), volunteered for the Task Force on Race and Criminal Justice System (Task Force 2.0) (2020-2022), and was instrumental in the development of the Drug Reentry Alternative Model program (a nationally regarded federal drug court) (2010-2019), as well as reentry program initiatives and the federal district court's 2021 Round Table discussion with all stakeholders regarding systemic racism in the wake of George Floyd's murder. She continues to be an active member of professional organizations including the King County Bar Association, the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Federal Bar Association for the Western District of Washington.
Job Titles:
- Elizabeth Hershman - Greven 's Paralegal
- Paralegal / LLLT
Josh is Elizabeth Hershman-Greven's paralegal and a Limited License Legal Technician. He began his career in law in 2007 as paralegal to a solo family law practitioner in Seattle and has worked solely in family law ever since. In 2021, he became a Limited License Legal Technician (LLLT), which allows him to independently provide legal advice in family law matters as a non-lawyer within the scope defined in Washington State's Admission and Practice Rule (APR) 28: https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/APR/GA_APR_28_00_00.pdf.
Judge Beth M. Andrus (ret.) is Of Counsel to the firm. After practicing law for over 20 years, 15 as a partner with Skellenger Bender, Andrus joined the judiciary and spent 13 years as a judge-eight years with the King County Superior Court and another five years with Division One of the Washington Court of Appeals.
As a trial judge, Andrus presided over civil, criminal, and family law trials. She held leadership roles on the court's Executive Committee and was Assistant Presiding Judge in 2015 and Chief Civil Judge, responsible for making trial assignments and managing the court's Civil Department, in 2016 and 2017. After her appointment to the court of appeals in 2018, Judge Andrus (ret.) held the roles of Acting Chief and Chief Judge with Division One.
Andrus retired as a judge in March 2023 and rejoined the firm in September 2023 to focus on arbitration, mediation, and appellate consulting.
Meg Giske is an Associate at the firm. Meg is an experienced trial attorney who focuses her practice on all types of family law matters, including divorce, child custody and support, parentage, parenting plan modifications, and domestic violence protection orders. Meg also has significant experience representing parents and children in dependency and guardianship proceedings, as well as defending clients in circumstances where there are allegations of child abuse or neglect or in which Child Protective Services (CPS) is involved.
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Member of the American Bar Association
Peder T. Punsalan-Teigen is a Principal of the firm. Peder focuses his practice on a wide range of family law matters including dissolutions of marriage, domestic partnerships and Committed Intimate Relationships, complex asset divisions, parentage, parenting and child custody, child support, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and LGBTQ+-specific family law issues.
Peder is a member of the American Bar Association, Washington State Bar Association, King County Bar Association, Family Law Institute, National LGBT Bar Association, QLaw (the LGBTQ+ Bar Association of Washington), Filipino Lawyers of Washington, and William L. Dwyer American Inn of Court. He is the Chair for the LGBTQ+ Law Section of the Washington State Bar Association. Peder currently serves on both QLaw's Issues & Advocacy and Social & Services Committees, and he is a Co-Chair on QLaw's Judicial Evaluations Committee.
Peter Offenbecher is a Principal in the firm. His practice focuses on criminal defense in federal and state courts. For over 35 years, Peter has provided the highest quality legal representation to clients facing the full spectrum of state and federal criminal charges. Peter provides legal advice to businesses and individuals facing investigations and inquiries from federal and state regulatory agencies, as well as vigorous representation at the trial and appellate stages of the criminal justice system.
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Member of the National LGBT Bar Association 's Family Law Institute
- Member of the Washington State Bar Association
Raegen N. Rasnic is a Principal attorney in the firm. Her practice focuses on family law, including divorce/dissolution of marriage, domestic partnership, and non-marital relationships, complex financial issues, high net worth estates, division of closely-held businesses, child custody and parenting plans, child support, parentage actions, and prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. In addition, Raegen is a nationally recognized practitioner of adoption and assisted reproductive technology (ART) law and handles the negotiation and formation of donor and surrogacy agreements. She also advises and defends medical and mental health professionals on ethics and disciplinary issues. Raegen is admitted to practice in the federal and state courts of Washington.
Raegen is a member of the Washington State Bar Association and the King County Bar Association. She is a past Trustee of the King County Bar Association and is a member of KCBA's Judicial Candidate Evaluation Committee and past chair of its Joint Bench-Bar Judicial Conferencing Committee. Raegen is also a Fellow and past Trustee of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA). She regularly presents to legal, judicial, and mental health professionals and the public on legal issues, with particular emphasis on family law litigation and assisted reproduction law. Raegen has been named a Washington "Super Lawyer" every year since 2016, and was named a Washington Super Lawyers "Rising Star" every year from 2005-2015.
Raegen is a member of the National LGBT Bar Association's Family Law Institute and the National Center for Lesbian Rights' National Family Law Advisory Council. She volunteers her time as a member of Legal Voice's Case Intake Committee and handles pro bono cases for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and National Center for Lesbian Rights.
Rita L. Bender is Of Counsel to the firm. She is admitted to practice in the federal and state courts in Washington, as well as the United States Supreme Court and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth and Third Circuits.
Rita's practice focuses on family law, adoption and assisted reproduction, and ethics and professional discipline for attorneys and mental health professionals.
Rita's past practice included service as a public defender in Seattle and Newark, NJ. She taught as a lecturer in law at Rutgers School of Law, and was on the adjunct faculty of the University Of Washington School Of Law.
She was a visiting professor at the University Of Mississippi School Of Law for the 2009-2010 academic year, and an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law in 2014.
Rita has lectured to groups of legal, medical, and mental health professionals on numerous topics including ethical issues of forensic practice; adoption and assisted reproductive technology; same sex adoption; complex family law issues; and prenuptial and cohabitation agreements.
Rita's community and professional activities include her appointment by the Supreme Court of Washington to the Practice of Law Board; designation by the Washington Commission on Judicial Conduct to represent the Commission in the prosecution of judicial conduct complaints; past service on the American Bar Association Commission on Homelessness; and service as past President of the Board of Trustees of the Legal Foundation of Washington. She is presently a member of the advisory committee for the Legal Technician Rules and a former member of the Washington Supreme Court Gender and Justice Commission. Rita is a fellow of the American Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproductive Technology Attorneys.
William J. Bender is Of Counsel to the firm. He focuses his practice on construction law, environmental law, and the representation of design professionals in contractual issues and disputes. He also represents clients on a wide range of commercial and civil litigation issues.
Bill is a frequent arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and several mass tort panels. He also serves as a private arbitrator and mediator.
Bill is admitted to practice in the federal and state courts of Washington. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Seventh, Ninth and D.C. Circuits.
Bill has practiced at Skellenger Bender since 1979. Before joining the practice, Bill served as a Federal Public Defender in Washington for five years and litigated extensively in the federal courts. Prior to moving to Washington, Bill taught Civil Procedure at Rutgers Law School and Constitutional Litigation at the Rutgers Law School Constitutional Litigation Clinic. He also served as staff counsel at the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City.