Elizabeth Bonanno, JD
Counties served: Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson
Attorney
Gebhardt Emerson Moodie Bonanno, LLC
650 S Cherry St Suite 500, Denver, CO 80246
303-317-3239
About ME
Elizabeth practices exclusively in family law, having served hundreds of clients during her tenure with their divorces, parenting, and child support cases. Elizabeth’s family law practice has focused on asset and business valuation, income valuation, complex divorce, parental responsibilities, child relocation, and child support matters, among others. Elizabeth speaks both Spanish and Italian and uses these skills to assist non-native speakers in navigating through domestic matters.
Elizabeth’s outstanding legal work and professionalism has been recognized by her selection as a 2017-2020 Colorado Super Lawyer® “Rising Star”, the judicial officers of Arapahoe County, who invited her to serve on their Best Practices Committee, and by Law Week Colorado, who named her as one of only seven “Up and Coming Lawyers” for 2015.
Elizabeth graduated from the University of Colorado Law School with Honors in Juvenile and Family Law. Elizabeth practiced family law for seven years at Griffiths Law PC, and was a partner at the firm from January, 2017 through July, 2019, joining the GEM family as a named partner on August 1, 2019. She received additional family law experience as a law clerk to Judge Norman D. Haglund on the domestic docket in Denver District Court, at Boulder County Legal Services, and at the Harris Law Firm.
Elizabeth trained in trial advocacy under Colorado Supreme Court Justice Nancy Rice (Ret.) and displays confidence and poise in the courtroom, having run many hearings and trials. However, she is also a firm believer in mediation and alternative dispute resolution, assisting clients in settling matters before they reach the courthouse. Elizabeth is trained in Collaborative Law, whereby parties commit to resolving their dissolution of marriage cooperatively and without the court’s involvement.
EDUCATION
University of Colorado Law School, J.D., Honors Juvenile and Family Law
Truman State University, B.A., Political Science and Spanish (magna cum laude)
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Colorado Collaborative Divorce Professionals
Denver Source for Collaborative Divorce
Metro Denver Interdisciplinary Committee, Secretary
Colorado Bar Association, Family Law Section
Colorado Women's Bar Association, Circle of Minerva
Doyle’s American Inn of Court
Arapahoe County Domestic Relations Best Practices Committee
COLLABORATIVE TRAININGS Taken
Colorado Collaborative Divorce Professionals Training, 2015
Presentations Given
"The Holistic Divorce: How to Separate the Family Unit Without Destroying It," CoBiz Magazine, Dec. 10, 2018, http://www.cobizmag.com/Trends/The-Holistic-Divorce-How-to-Separate-the-Family-Unit-Without-Destroying-It/.
“Trial Tips – Pet Peeves and Best Practices,” Colorado Judicial Institute, co-presenter, March 1, 2018
“How to Get Your Social Media, Email and Text Evidence Admitted (and Keep Theirs Out),” National Business Institute Continuing Legal Education Program, co-presenter, December 2017.
“QDROs Boot Camp,” National Business Institute Continuing Legal Education Program, co-presenter, July 2017; July 2016
“Calling All Spanish-Speaking Lawyers” by Elizabeth Bonanno, The Docket, February 2015, Vol. 37, No. 2
Our Courts of Colorado, Presenter for the Colorado Bar Association and Colorado Judicial Institute’s joint public education project
"Understanding and Intervening: When Children Refuse Contact with a Parent," Colorado Association of Family and Conciliatory Courts, Panel Discussion, October, 2019
"Collaborative Law - Debunking the Myths: A Current Perspective on Adding the Collaborative Law Model to Your Family Law Toolbox," Family Law Institute, August, 2019
“Trial Tips – Pet Peeves and Best Practices,” Colorado Judicial Institute, co-presenter, March 1, 2018
“Calling All Spanish-Speaking Lawyers” by Elizabeth Bonanno, The Docket, February 2015, Vol. 37, No. 2. Our Courts of Colorado, Presenter for the Colorado Bar Association and Colorado Judicial Institute’s joint public education project