Susan Wakefield

SENIOR MEDIATOR
FAMILY AND DIVORCE ATTORNEY

Susan Wakefield brings to the CT Mediation Center over thirty-five years of experience exclusively in the areas of family and divorce law and divorce mediation. Susan Wakefield, a native New Yorker, attended Bernard M. Baruch College (CUNY) and Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Cardozo is a renowned law school for its dispute resolution program. While at Cardozo, Susan’s area of concentration was alternative dispute resolution where she learned to manage clients’ conflicts through negotiation, mediation, and problem-saving. Susan clerked for a New York matrimonial firm where she became interested in family law. Susan received her Juris Doctor in 1988 and joined a firm where she gained firsthand litigation and courtroom experience. After four years with a family law practice, Susan launched her own solo family and divorce practice. Susan then attended intensive divorce mediation and collaborative law training incorporating both alternative dispute resolution services into her practice.

In 2008, Susan saw a dramatic shift in the area of divorce law. Statistics showed fifty percent of divorcing individuals could not afford to hire an attorney to represent them in court. Susan launched Connecticut Legal Coaching, a service offering affordable, pay as you go legal advice to those navigating the daunting process of divorce on their own. Susan appeared in local newspapers and on radio shows discussing this niche she created with legal coaching.

Susan is a strong advocate for access to affordable legal services and an ally to the LGBTQ community. For over twenty years, Susan has represented clients pro bono to ensure they had the legal advice and support they needed. Susan has been an active lawyer volunteer with Connecticut Legal Services, Statewide Legal Services of Connecticut, Mercy Learning Center and the Center for Family Justice in Bridgeport, and the Center for Education and Empowerment in Danbury. Susan volunteers in the Connecticut Bar Association’s free legal clinics advising clients in the areas of family and divorce law.

Susan is licensed to practice in Connecticut and retired from practice in New York. Susan is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association and the Academy of Professional Family Mediators. Susan practices exclusively divorce and family law mediation, marital mediation, and post-divorce mediation.