There is no question that Judith S. Crittenden is a legend in the legal field.
Crittenden graduated from Cumberland School of Law of Samford University in 1970. She became the first woman in the state of Alabama to serve as a Deputy District Attorney, and in 1984 she founded The Crittenden Firm, P.C. She is also a founder of the Women’s Lawyer Section of the Birmingham Bar Association and of the Family Violence Center for the YWCA. She has built an incredible legacy, and now it has been passed on to six other amazing female attorneys.
Crittenden Partners, P.C. was formed in 2014 with the original partners Judith Crittenden, Laura Montgomery Lee, and Paige Yarbrough.
“She built a great firm and a great reputation,” said Lee, the firm’s managing partner.
Lee earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Alabama and began working at the Crittenden Firm in 2010 as a Family Law attorney. She is a member of both the Alabama and Tennessee Bar and is actively involved in the Birmingham Bar Association.
Yarbrough is also a Cumberland School of Law alumna and earned her Juris Doctorate in 2012. She joined the Crittenden Firm immediately after graduating to begin practicing family law. Additionally, she is a co-author of West Alabama’s Practice Series in Alabama Family Law, Three Part Treatise.
Since 2014, Crittenden Partners has expanded and added three additional partners. Deborah Gregory joined in 2017, while Kathryn Henry and Nicole Saia both became partners in 2019. Together, they have over 100 years of experience and a diverse set of skills that can handle any matter with the utmost expertise. Crittenden Partners’ newest associate, Lindsay Van Noy, joined the firm earlier this year.
Crittenden herself will still be actively involved and available to clients in an Of Counsel role.
“Our motto is ‘The Strength of Integrity,’” Lee said, adding that the law is their passion and integrity is their foundation. Compassion is also a big part of Crittenden Partners’ work as they specialize in divorce litigation, including jurisdictional issues, spousal and child support, child custody, marital property characterization and valuation and division of assets.
“We don’t want to create scorched earth,” Lee said. “We try to manage emotions with the ability to preserve assets and preserve integrity. Sometimes it can be tempting to fight every battle in the heat of emotions, but when it comes time to co-parent with the other person, a client is no longer glad they’ve gone down this road. We want to help alleviate that and fight the battles that matter.”
Crittenden Partners also specializes in post-divorce actions, including actions to enforce prior divorce judgments and actions to modify child custody, child support and spousal support. Its other areas of expertise include family law appeals, paternity matters, adoptions, and prenuptial, postnuptial and marital settlement agreements. Additionally, Crittenden Partners has recently extended its practice to include estate planning and mediation services.
“Our benchmark of success is when a client’s case is resolved in a way that the client can feel confident, secure and emotionally capable of moving forward,” Lee said. “We want to ensure that our clients feel that we have made one of the most difficult times in their lives easier to manage and that they have come through that time stronger.”
