"I started Guild because I kept running into the same brilliant attorney — solo practice, rural county, no one to call at midnight before a custody hearing. We all deserved better than that."
Hon. Margaret Calloway (Ret.)
Founding President, Guild · 2009
Built by practitioners,
for practitioners.
In 2009, a circuit court judge in rural Arizona convened twelve family law attorneys in her living room. They drank coffee, spread case briefs across her kitchen table, and talked for six hours straight.
That gathering became Guild. Today, 4,200 practitioners in 48 states share courtroom strategies, draft model legislation together, and mentor newly licensed attorneys through their first contested custody trials.
What belonging
looks like.
From CLE credits to courtroom strategy sessions — Guild membership is the colleague you always wished you had.
Interstate Custody in the Age of Remote Work
3.5 CLE credits · Next session March 14, 2026
HB 2244 Passes: Uniform Parenting Time Standards Now Law in 7 States
Guild members drafted the model bill language after three years of collaborative effort at annual summits.
Paired and Prepared
Newly licensed Deja Whitfield-Brown (TX) and retired judge Robert Nakamura spent 60 hours together before her first contested hearing. She won.
Southwest Chapter Meetup · Tucson
34 practitioners gathered for a half-day mock hearing session led by Hon. Patricia Okonkwo. Case packets, critique rounds, and tamales.
"I took 12 pro bono cases last year. Guild's resource library made that possible."
— Marcus Thibeault, Solo Practitioner · Hardin County, KY
Summit 2025 Preview: The Mock Courtroom Returns
Four retired judges. Twelve contested custody scenarios. Real transcripts, real critique. Santa Fe, NM · October 2–5, 2025.
Every child deserves a practitioner who has someone to call.
To ensure that every family law practitioner —
no matter where they practice —
has a colleague to call.
Guild exists so that the child in Hardin County, Kentucky gets the same quality of legal representation as the child in Manhattan.
Santa Fe, New Mexico
October 2–5, 2026
Four days of mock hearings with retired judges, model legislation workshops, mentorship speed rounds, and evenings under the New Mexico sky with colleagues who understand exactly what you carry.
Early-Bird Pricing Ends In
Early Bird Rate
- All 4 days of programming
- 12 CLE credits included
- Mock hearing participation
- Mentorship matching session
"Summit is the one week a year I remember why I became a family law attorney."
Priya Krishnamurthy
Partner, Krishnamurthy & Osei · Atlanta, GA
"I left with three new co-counsel relationships and a model brief that changed how I approach relocation cases."
Thomas Beaumont-Walsh
Solo Practitioner · Bozeman, MT
"As a retired judge, giving back through mock hearings at Summit is the most useful thing I do all year."
Hon. Claudette Fontenot (Ret.)
Former Family Court Judge · New Orleans, LA