Anne (Jan) W. White, with over 30 years of legal experience in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia, is a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and consistently named to Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers in Family Law and Collaborative Law. Jan graduated from Stanford Law School and is a magna cum laude graduate of Duke University, where she was also an Angier B. Duke scholar and Phi Beta Kappa member. Jan's diverse background prepared her to resolve complex divorce issues involving taxes, retirement benefits, trusts, businesses, and related financial issues in collaborative cases. Earlier in her career, she studied finance at Stanford Business School, trained in tax, business, and litigation at the Washington, D.C. firm of Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells), and practiced international trade law. Jan completed her collaborative law training alongside renowned professionals in the field, such as Stu Webb, Pauline Tesler, Peggy Thompson, Suzanne Brunsting, Susan Gamache, and George Richardson. Jan is a leader and educator in Collaborative Law. She serves as Chair of the D.C. Metro Protocols Committee, which drafted the contracts and reference book for the practice of Collaborative law in the area, and Co-Chair of the Ethics Committee of the Maryland Collaborative Practice Council, which educates other professionals on how to handle difficult issues. She is past-President of the D.C. Academy of Collaborative Professionals and past Co-Chair of the Collaborative Professionals of Northern Virginia. As a founding member of Collaborative Practice Training Institute, Jan trains other collaborative law professionals. She was honored with the first Member of the Year Award by the Collaborative Dispute Resolution Professionals (Maryland) for her work on the development of the D.C. Metro Area Protocols for Collaborative Divorce. As a founding member of Collaborative Practice Training Institute (CPTI), Jan has for years taught a three-day Training for Maryland Lawyers and Judiciary for the Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts. She is also a frequent lecturer on Divorce tax, pensions, financial issues in divorce, and high income child support.
Jan says that the Collaborative Process appeals to clients who want privacy about their finances and personal matters and who want to control the pacing and time demands of resolving their dispute. Among divorcing clients, the Collaborative Process particularly appeals to spouses who want an amicable divorce; spouses who want to integrate financial planning into their divorce; spouses who want to be better informed about their finances; spouses who want to maintain a respectful relationship with each other and the other’s extended family; couples who have had a lengthy marriage; and clients who want specialized tax, business, trust and other expert advice as part of their divorce. In a divorce or family law situation, there are two groups that are particularly well-served by the process: 1) high net worth individuals and business owners who seek a private resolution and a process they can control; and 2) parents who seek a process that protects their children. The first group, who have important financial interests at stake, can protect their financial information from disclosure to others outside the process. At the same time, if one party is less financially sophisticated, the neutral financial expert hired by the parties can help educate that person about the family finances. The parties can also control the timing of the process by deciding when they will meet and how fast they will proceed. When they reach resolution in the process, their finances will be protected from public access. The second group, parents of minor children, are able to set protecting their children as their goal for the Collaborative Process. Instead of the attorneys’ negotiating a custody schedule, mental health experts trained as coaches meet with the parties to develop a schedule and decision-making plan that protects the children. Participants interviewed after the Collaborative Process reported the greatest benefits to be their improved ability to co-parent and the protection of their children during the divorce process.
CURRENT:
founding member of Collaborative Practice Training Institute.
Best Lawyers (Family Law and Collaborative Law)
Super Lawyers (Family Law)
Chair, D.C. Metro Protocols Committee
Co-Chair, Ethics Committee, Maryland Collaborative Practice Council
PRIOR:
American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Fellow
Faculty for Maryland Bar Association Divorce Tax program
Faculty for Divorce Tax, Pension, High Income Child Support, and Trusts programs for attorneys and mediators
Developed, chaired and taught D.C. Bar Program 'Family Law around the Beltway: Law and Strategy in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia
past Co-Chair, Collaborative Professionals of Northern Virginia
Past President for D.C. Academy of Collaborative Professionals
Past Board Member and Co-Chair of Protocols for Collaborative Dispute Resolution Professionals (Maryland)
Year | Course Title | Instructor | Hours |
---|---|---|---|
Basic/ Introductory Collaborative Law or Interdisciplinary Collaborative Team Training. | |||
2005 | Basic Collaborative Law Training | George Richardson | 16 |
30-Hr Interest-Based Negotiation & Mediation Skills | |||
2006 | Mediation Training | Carl Schneider | 40 |
Additional 15 hours Intermediate/ Advanced interest-based negotiation, communication skills, collaborative, or basic professional coach training | |||
2008 | Using the IACP Collaborative Practice Basic Training Curriculum | Susan Gamache and Amy Wolff | 6 |
2008 | Intermediate Collaborative Training | Pauline Tesler | 3 |
2006 | Intermediate Collaborative Law Training | Stuart Webb | 8 |
Annual 4 hours collaborative continuing education (basic, intermediate, or advanced) | |||
2022 | “Collaborative Clients: When kumbaya is not enough.” | CPNV: Barbara Burr, Esq. | 1.5 |
2022 | Divorcing your spouse, but staying married to Uncle Sam | CPNV: Sarah Avila, CFP®, CDFA® | 1.5 |
2021 | VIRGINIA’S UNIFORM COLLABORATIVE LAW ACT: WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOUR COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE | CPNV: Jennifer A. Bradley, JD; Anne (Jan) W. White, JD; Karen L. Keyes, JD | 1.5 |
2021 | Transform Them | CPNV: Jonathan Foust, MA, CSA | 1.5 |
2021 | Should Virginia Create a Legal Presumption of Shared Custody: A Current Effort is Underway, and There is Research to Support It | CPNV: Adele D’Ari, Ph.D., Lisa Herrick, Ph.D., Jennifer Bradley, J.D. | 1.5 |
2021 | NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE | DCACP: Barbara Burr, Esq.; Natalie Goldberg, LCSW | 1.5 |
2021 | HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS: STRATEGIES FOR STREAMLINING COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE | CPNV: Jennifer Bradley, Esq., Lynn Fetcher, Esq., Natalie Goldberg, LCSW, Jane Ochsman Rowny, CPA, CDFA | 1.5 |
2021 | BEYOND SPREAD SHEETS AND CASH FLOW – A DEEP DIVE INTO THE FINANCIAL NEUTRAL ROLES AS FACILITATOR, MEDIATOR AND ADVISOR | CPNV: Debbie May CPA, CFP, CDFA and Robin Taub, J.D. | 1.5 |
2021 | ADULT ADHD IN COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE: A POWERFUL, UNDER-RECOGNIZED X FACTOR | CPNV: Kate Scharff, PhD | 1.5 |
2020 | Yikes-My Client is Recently Sober: Integrating substance abuse recover into a parenting plan | CPNV: Natalie Goldberg & George Young | 1.5 |
2020 | The Psychological and Ethical Dimensions of Collaborative Practice | David A. Hoffman, Collaborative Attorney & Mediator | 6 |
2020 | The New Normal | CPNV: Steve Goldman & Patrice Garver | 1.5 |
2020 | Impacts During COVID-19 | CPNV: Lisa Herrick, Natalie Goldberg, Sue Soler, Jennifer Bradley & Grant Moher | 1.5 |
2020 | Dialectical Behavioral Therapy: Adapting Techniques for Collaborative Practice | CPNV: Britt Rathbone, LCSW-C | 3 |
2019 | What's IACP Got To Do With It? | Chris Farish, JD | .5 |
2019 | Ethics in Collaborative Law | I was presenter (Univ. of Maryland Law School) | 3 |
2019 | Collaborative Boot Camp: An Experiential Day of Refining Skills and Deepening Team Cohesion (12th 11-11-19) | Barbara Burr, JD & Lisa Herrick, PhD | 5.5 |
2018 | Working Creatively with Conflict | Debbie Beach, Patrice Garver, and Debbie Nackman | 1 |
2018 | Tools to Understand your Divorcing Client's Money Personality | Erika W. Schleifman, CFP, CDFA | 1 |
2018 | Collaborative TEAM protocols: How the TEAM establishes an environment of thinking and reasoning | Christine Hissong and Mary Szpanka | 1 |
2017 | Creating the Conditions for Growth As We Help Our Clients Navigate Separation and Divorce | Lisa Herrick and Kate Scharff | 6 |
2016 | What You Don't Know about Privilege | I was the instructor. | 4 |
2015 | Mediation Intensive Training | Gary Friedman | 40 |
2014 | Interdisciplinary Collaborative Practice Training | I was the instructor. | 22 |
2013 | Ethical Issues in Collaborative Cases | I was the instructor. | 4 |
2012 | Updated Collaborative Protocols for DC Metro and VA | I was the instructor. | 2 |
2012 | Interdisciplinary Collaborative Training | I was the instructor. | 22 |
2012 | Ethical Issues in Collaborative Cases | I was the instructor. | 4 |
2011 | Interdisciplinary Collaborative Training | I was the instructor. | 22 |
2010 | Protocols for Collaborative Cases: DC Metro area | I was the instructor. | 3 |
2010 | Interdisciplinary Collaborative Practice | I was the instructor. | 22 |
2009 | Interdisciplinary Collaborative Practice Training | Susan Gamache | 22 |
2009 | Ethical Considerations on the Practice of Collaborative Law | Suzanne Brunsting | 4 |
2008 | Conflict Resolution and Mediation Skills Training for Collaborative Professionals | Judy Rubin | 5 |
2007 | Basic Interdisciplinary Training | George Richardson | 20 |
2006 | Basic Collaborative Law Training | Suzanne Brunsting | 16 |