About Us

Seeking clients open to agreement

Our goal is to make divorce and family law as simple as possible by giving you the tools to find a solution. We do this through collaborative law, mediation and using compromise driven legal options.

Our offices are conveniently located just off I-5 in Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia and we are available throughout the week from 8 am to 7 pm and on Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm. However, we answer calls 24/7 and are available anytime for urgent matters.

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Meet the team

Justin W. Aanenson

Attorney

Bio

Justin grew up listening to courtroom tales told by his grandfather, a Helena, Montana defense attorney. Inspired by those stories, he became a Washington State licensed lawyer in 2012. While practicing he felt there was a better way for many to experience the family law system, which led him to launch Truce Law. Justin focuses on making the divorce process as simple as possible, by giving clients the tools they need to find an agreed solution. He is a collaboratively trained attorney as well as a certified mediator.

Outside the office you can find Justin at Cafe Mox playing his favorite game, Commander, the best version of Magic: The Gathering. He spent his last birthday spey fishing for steelhead in Oregon and this year his personal goal is to shoot par in a round of golf. This goal is years in the making, which began when he worked high school summers hauling bags as a caddy at Aldarra Golf Club.

Background

Justin graduated from the Seattle University School of Law as a Washington State Scholar, a scholarship awarded to the top 1% of the applicant pool. Prior to law school, he earned an undergraduate degree in finance and marketing from the University of Washington. For fun, he recently completed a year long certificate program at the UW in Popular Fiction Writing.

Justin volunteers time as a mediator with the Snohomish County Dispute Resolution Center and in the Arlington small claims court. He's also provided legal services at the Union Gospel Mission's legal clinic and through the Washington State Bar Association's Moderate Means Program.

Focus Areas

Collaborative Divorce, Uncontested Family Law Issues, Mediation

John Cyr

Attorney

Bio

John is a dedicated and skilled advocate and has appeared in just about every county in Western Washington. A reader from an early age, John learned that everyone has a story to tell, and everyone has a right to have their voice heard. He enjoys working collaboratively with clients to identify goals and face legal challenges and he strongly believes that trust is central to a lawyer client relationship.

When he’s not battling it out in the courtroom, John spends his time listening to music and playing guitar. He enjoys rock, funk, and blues, but recently he’s been working on his jazz chops on a classical nylon string guitar. You can also find him hiking all over the Washington Cascades on most weekends and he’d love to eventually conquer Mt. Adams, Mt. Baker, and Mt. Rainier.

Background

John was born and raised here in Washington State. After studying business and music at Gonzaga University. John moved back to Seattle and worked at the law firm of Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland on real estate and civil litigation. After graduating from Seattle University School of Law, John continued working in private practice, successfully litigating cases involving employment discrimination, workers’ compensation, and real estate litigation. His trial work grew to include the most serious felony charges and he has won acquittals and not guilty verdicts in Superior Courts throughout Washington State and court martials in the United States Army Trial Judiciary.

Focus Areas

Civil litigation (plaintiff and defense), Criminal Defense, Protection Orders

Deborah Josephson

Attorney

Bio

Having practiced law for over 30 years in Washington State, Deborah is a certified mediator and a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, Collaborative Professionals of Pierce County and Collaborative Professionals of Washington.

Deborah is passionate about family law because she is passionate about improving family relationships which can be challenged by the change in family structure. It is tough for people going through family endings to realize the chance for a better and new family beginning is on the other side of the difficulties they are currently experiencing.

When not in the office, Deb enjoys being a mother and all that it entails, including joining her daughter at a new restaurant or theater. She enjoys cooking and entertaining and even went to the French Culinary Institute in New York. She has an extensive cookbook collection, which she enjoys reading and learning about other cultures and traditions.

Background

Deborah graduated from California State University with a BA in English. Later Deborah moved to Minnesota and attended the prestigious William Mitchell College of Law and Seattle University, becoming a member of the Washington State Bar in 1992.

Deborah began her legal journey when she volunteered for the San Francisco Bar Association’s Legal Clinic for Battered Women and later researched jurisdiction issues and legal prep documents for parental kidnapping issues. Through these experiences and others, Deborah discovered her passion for helping those who need a voice.

Having worked for the Fourth Judicial District and for a family law attorney, Deborah gained the practical experience needed to open her own family law office soon after graduation, having now practiced family law in King and Pierce Counties for 30 years.

Focus Areas

Collaborative Divorce, Uncontested Divorce, Mediation, Contested Divorce and Trial

Barb Smith

Paralegal

Bio

Prior to life as a paralegal, Barb got a break from her job as a retail manager when called for jury duty on a two week asbestos trial. From that point on she was hooked on the law and how courtrooms work. She received a small inheritance from her grandmother and enrolled in one of the few paralegal schools that existed in the early 90s. After graduating, she was immediately hired as a paralegal/office manager because of her prominent leadership skills. Barb’s passion lies with helping people through the legal system compassionately and efficiently no matter what the area of law.

With four blackbelts in four different styles, Barb spends her spare time teaching both adults and children martial arts and life skills. When she is not chasing the kids around the mat, she is chasing her daughter around the kitchen as they experiment making new and exciting dishes from all corners of the world.

Background

Barb became a certified paralegal through the National Academy for Paralegal Studies with a 4.0, received her Bachelor’s in Legal Studies from Kaplan University graduating Cumma Sum Laude, and received her Executive Juris Doctorate from Concord Law School at Purdue University Global. She has spent the past 30 years as a litigation paralegal in a wide variety of areas of law both plaintiff and defendant so she brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience to the table.

When Barb is not litigating, she tours local dojos and dojangs teaching a six-week women’s self-defense program. She also volunteers at the local Salvation Army assembling and distributing food boxes to recipients.

Focus Areas

Discovery, Court Processes, Client Support

Prisca Nathanson

Legal Assistant

Bio

Prisca grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa (Joburg for short) and was raised by the many medical professionals in her family. Their selflessness was and continues to inspire her. Before Truce Law, Prisca worked as an emergency dispatcher for a non-profit company for over four years. Working in a high-stress environment, Prisca would field calls from people in emergencies and send vehicles to home invasions, burglaries, and medical crises.

In her free time, Prisca is often found having dance parties with her daughter and singing nursery rhymes to put her son to sleep. She and her daughter enjoy baking healthy alternatives to popular treats. If you’re interested, she’ll share how to replace butter with coconut oil to bake the best brownies. When the children are happily dreaming, Prisca and her husband are either binge-watching Stranger Things on Netflix or trying to reach the next checkpoint before a Clicker gets to Ellie on The Last of Us.

Background

She’s studied Biochemistry and Human Physiology at the University of Johannesburg and plans to return next year to finish her degree and join the medical field like the rest of her family.

Prior to university, Prisca volunteered at a local orphanage, a state-run hospital, and participated in various community fundraisers. To better assist when volunteering, she acquired a certificate in Home-Based Care for children and the elderly. Even today she’ll collect toys and clothes for the local orphanage every few months.

Focus Areas

Scheduling, Client Happiness, Outreach

Elyn Oliver

Legal Administrator

Bio

Being an avid traveler and explorer, Elyn moved from Montana to Italy at age 15 as an exchange student, traveled to Japan at 17 as student ambassador for the State of Montana, and circumnavigated the world with Semester at Sea before she was 21. Elyn took this interest of people, places and the beauty she found the world over, and distilled it into a career of business, education and mentorship gaining an MBA and a Master’s in Teaching. Her passion is being a conduit between problems and solutions, guiding people through possibilities to find the best outcome (in the most Pareto Efficient way possible).

Elyn lives aboard her 33-foot sailboat with her two daughters in the San Juan Islands in Washington State. She loves exploring the natural world, her local library, and is currently working to get her private pilot’s license. She enjoys cruising the Inside Passage and South East Alaska, and recently returned from an epic 5,000-mile road trip to the Canadian Arctic.

Background

Elyn holds an MBA in Sustainable Business from Bainbridge Graduate Institute and a Master’s in Teaching from Seattle Pacific University. Combining these two interests, Elyn became one of the only public-school teachers in Washington State certified to teach social and environmental sustainability. She believes, however, the best education is not in the classroom, and has dedicated her career to guiding people, and businesses, to finding efficiencies and alignment of right livelihood: how to create profit without compromising values or creating harm.

Elyn has sat on the boards as chair and co-chair for high impact nonprofits, as well as provided services to small businesses as a pro-bono consultant for sustainability. She believes that the more you give, the more you can receive. She is currently co-creating a non-profit to help remote indigenous youth gain access to modern watercraft such as SUP, sail and kayaks.

Focus Areas

Client Relations, Employee Onboarding, Firm Policies & Procedures

Gabriel Gomez

Legal Reception & Client Coordinator

Bio

Gabriel was born in a small town in Argentina, three hours West of Buenos Aires. After leaving his home to attend college and work, he returned to his hometown to raise his family. Fluent in Spanish and English – and now learning French – Gabriel discovered his love of languages as a tool that allows him to connect with people all over the world.

When he is not managing all aspects of communication for Truce Law, Gabriel enjoys spending time with his family, traveling and photography. He enjoys portrait and documentary photography the best, and his daughter has become his favorite photographic subject. One of his recent trips was from Argentina to Uruguay by motorcycle with some good friends: He meant to go touring just for an afternoon, but ended up touring for a week all the way to the coast. He enjoys drinking Mate, a South American specialty tea, as it is traditionally brewed. Don’t ask him to mix it with sugar or serve it cold!

Gabriel also enjoys sports, including weight lifting and cycling. Soon after getting married, Gabriel and his wife bicycled from his hometown in Argentina 3,000 miles north to the Caribbean shores of Columbia. This trip led Gabriel to create a photographic project titled “Portrait of South American people”.

Background

Before Truce Law, Gabriel worked as a professional photographer and as a recruiter for major American companies finding and interviewing candidates to fill important positions. He has a strong background in customer and technical care, where he developed not only the technical skills to help the customers but also the empathy to understand how this inconvenience was affecting their lives. As a photographer, he specialized in capturing human stories in a single frame of his camera, especially pivotal moments in people’s lives.

Gabriel is a natural mediator: during his time at college, the river overflowed its banks and many families and homes were destroyed. Gabriel volunteered as a communication liaison between the Army and local groups to help displaced people and families move into new homes and shelters.

Focus Areas

Communication, Client Happiness, Scheduling

Seeking clients open to agreement

Meet the team

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