Local Professionals | Charlottesville Collaborative Divorce

Collaborative Attorneys

John K. Taggart, II

John has practiced law in the Charlottesville/Albemarle County area since 1969. He has had a concentration in domestic relations law for approximately 25 years. He received his B.A. degree from Birmingham-Southern College and his Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Virginia.

Since approximately 2004, John has been heavily involved in the practice of collaborative law. His involvement is based on his firm belief that to the extent possible divorce should be non-combative and conducive to a productive continuing relationship between the parties, especially when minor children are involved. He has been involved in approximately 35 collaborative cases. During these cases his commitment to the collaborative process has increased as he saw firsthand the advantages of individuals making their own informed decisions about their and their family’s future in a calm and reassuring atmosphere.

Kitt R. Mattingly

Kitt has been handling collaborative law cases since 2008, in addition to her litigation practice. One of her favorite things about the collaborative approach is the opportunity to “make the pie bigger” by finding creative solutions that result in both sides getting more of what they want, in contrast to the zero-sum game that typifies non-collaborative negotiation or litigation.

Kitt's academic training in philosophy, logic and debate developed her ability to foster rational, respectful discourse -- even when dealing with emotionally charged issues. Kitt is a double ‘Hoo, having earned both her BA and JD from the University of Virginia. Prior to attending law school, she completed a PhD in philosophy at Georgetown University, and taught philosophy and logic at Georgetown and Ohio University.

Kitt looks forward to helping couples navigate their divorce with dignity and respect so as to achieve the optimal solution for each family’s unique situation.

David J. Toscano

David has practiced family law for over 26 years. He has been engaged in collaborative practice for over 8 years, and has successfully completed almost 70 cases. David believes that this process creatively engages people’s ability to imagine options that cannot be contemplated by a court, and to resolve issues in a way that allows them to move forward with their lives in a productive fashion.

David has a BA from Colgate University, a PhD in Sociology from Boston College, and a law degree from the University of Virginia. He practices with the law firm of Buck, Toscano & Tereskerz, Ltd. He is a former member of the Charlottesville City Council, a former mayor, and presently serves as a Delegate in the Virginia General Assembly, having recently been elected as minority leader in the House of Delegates.

Susan Davis White

Susan has practiced almost exclusively in the family law area for over 30 years. Since 2004 she has concentrated her practice on collaborative family law and in 2008 she stopped taking any case that seemed to be headed toward litigation out of her belief that no one, especially the children, will benefit from a judge making decisions about what is best for a family. She has successfully completed over 90 collaborative cases. In the majority of these cases she believes that the couples learned to communicate with each other more productively, focusing on the future well being of their family rather than their past problems.

Susan has a BA from George Washington University, a MA from Northeastern University and a JD from the University of Virginia.

Lynn Bradley

Lynn has practiced family law for more than 17 years as a strong, compassionate, skilled litigator. Lynn loves helping families through difficult times of transition but found that the court system was a poor way to solve family law disputes. Lynn believes that collaborative law is a better way to reach an acceptable resolution without the time, expense and emotional toll litigation takes on the parties and their children. Since 2005, she has helped divorcing couples and their families move beyond the divorce and forward with their lives without resorting to the court system. The collaborative process fosters respect, cooperation and a new pattern of communication the divorcing couple can carry with them as their lives as co-parents or acquaintances evolve. Lynn so believes in the process that she has limited her family law practice to collaborative law.

Lynn obtained her law degree from T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond and is a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and the Virginia Collaborative Professionals. Lynn is a shareholder at Tucker Griffin Barnes, voted “Best Law Firm in Charlottesville” by C’ville and the Daily Progress in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012.

Annie Lee Jacobs

As a Collaborative Divorce attorney, Annie Lee tries to help the client solve problems constructively in order to maximize the benefits to both parties and their children and to restructure their family rather than tear it apart. She has practiced law in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area, and throughout Central Virginia since June, 1976 handling family matters since that time and concentrating in that area since 1984.

Annie Lee has been a resident of Virginia her entire life; graduating from public school in Greene County, she received a B.A. from Westhampton College of the University of Richmond, attended graduate school at Emory University, and after a brief teaching career, received a J.D. from the University of Virginia. Her education as a mediator in 1986 led naturally to her decision to embrace the collaborative law model; in the fall of 2003 she trained in collaborative divorce which she has used and championed ever since.

K. Catherine Albano

Catherine’s practice specializes in family law, mediation, and collaborative law. Her interest in family matters, and particularly custody issues found its way to the forefront of her career due to her passionate interest in helping people create peace in their lives and in their families.

Catherine has been a mediator for approximately 22 years, and a family law practitioner for 10 years. The blend of her mediation skills and advocacy skills naturally evolved to include the practice of collaborative law officially in 2015 when she was pleased to join the Charlottesville Collaborative Divorce attorney group.

Catherine received her JD from Fordham Law School and her BA from Wellesley College, where she majored in French literature and Philosophy. Her legal career began in 1981 with four years in an Admiralty firm on Wall Street, followed by a private practice in Millbrook, New York, where she started her own family. In 1992 she moved to Charlottesville and became a court certified mediator and group facilitator, specializing in family matters and workplace conflict, particularly in medical management, arising from a two year position as a management analyst at the University of Virginia Cancer Center. In 2006 family law and mediation became her sole focus, and since 2008 she has served the courts as a Guardian ad litem.

Committed to minimizing strife, avoiding court costs, and allowing the parties to control their own outcomes, Catherine welcomes the opportunity to offer the collaborative approach to divorcing couples. She is dedicated to serving those who seek to resolve their conflict with compassion and with a higher good in mind.

Collaborative Coaches and Advisers

Tom DeMaio, PHD

Tom is a clinical psychologist and organizational consultant practicing for over 30 years. With specialty training as an interdisciplinary collaborative mental health coach, Tom is uniquely qualified to help in the collaborative divorce process. Providing these services with numerous families, Tom has functioned as a joint coach (for both parties in the divorce) resolving individual concerns, the emotional process of ending a relationship, as well as dealing with the needs of the children.

In addition to his clinical and collaborative process, Tom is adjunct faculty in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. He is also a respected leader in his profession, serving in leadership roles in his state and national professional associations.

Cathleen A Rea, PhD

Cathleen A Rea PhD (UVA GRAD ’84) is a Clinical Psychologist specializing in child and family concerns. She has been in practice for over 30 years and has assumed leadership roles in both the Virginia and American Psychological Associations. In 2004, she began to develop specialty work with conflicted families in the separation/divorce process and has been a Collaborative professional since 2008. Dr. Rea has a strong commitment to helping families negotiate what is increasingly recognized as a developmental shift in the family, but not a dissolution of “family.” As a Collaborative team member, she works with both spouses to change and improve their communication toward effective problem-solving as they develop the language of their divorce. She works with the children to be their voices as their parents develop their parenting plan. Post-divorce, she consults with parents in the business of co-parenting as the developmental needs of their children/families evolve.

Paul H. Legrand, CFP®, CDFA™, MBA

Paul is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™. He is a member of the Association of Divorce Financial Planners; the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts™; the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals; and Virginia Collaborative Professionals. In addition, Paul is a member of collaborative divorce practice groups in Richmond, Charlottesville, and Lynchburg. He has or has had clients throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia as well as the Washington DC area.

He has lectured to various practice groups throughout the Commonwealth on the topics associated with retirement and the psychology of money as it impacts divorce negotiations and has spoken at the University of Richmond Law School on the role of a financial neutral in a collaborative divorce.

Paul holds a BS degree (with honors) with a major in finance from Lehigh University and an MBA from Harvard Business School with a concentration in finance. In addition to his financial planning training, Paul completed the Collaborative Divorce Team Training program, the Interest-Based Negotiation and Mediation Skills Training Course as well as numerous advanced conflict resolution workshops.

He is married, the father of two grown sons, and a grandparent. In his spare time, Paul is the beekeeper at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, James Monroe’s Highland, and at the University of Virginia Morven Kitchen Garden. He started and independently maintains all three projects.