Frances Ross Nolan
Frances Ross Nolan formally joined The Crittenden Firm in 2005 after working as a law clerk at the firm for several years. She describes her decision to work in the area of family law as a calling and her passion for her work is evident.
Frances is a certified collaborative lawyer and family law mediator and is the co-founder and President of Alabama's first Collaborative Law Practice Group, Birmingham Collaborative Alliance. Collaborative Divorce is practiced widely across the country, but is relatively new to Alabama. Frances has been a moving force in bringing this option to Alabama.
In addition to her work as President of the Birmingham Collaborative Alliance, Frances is the 2011-2012 Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Family Law. She also serves on the Council for the Alabama State Bar Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, on the Alabama Custodial Laws Revision Task Force, on the Alabama Law Institute Collaborative Law Act Committee and she is an official Observer to the Uniform Law Commission's Collaborative Law Act Committee.
She is currently President of the Indian Springs School Alumni Council and serves as an ex officio member of the ISS Board of Directors. Frances was among the first women to graduate from the formerly male-only Indian Springs School; is a graduate of San Francisco State University and a cum laude graduate of Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. She is a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Practitioners, the American, Alabama and Birmingham Bar Associations, the Family Law Sections of the American and Alabama Bar Associations, the Alternative Dispute Resolutions Sections of the Alabama and Birmingham Bar Associations, the Rotary Club of Shades Valley and the Birmingham Inns of Court. She was designated a Rising Star in Family Law for 2011 by Super Lawyers.
Frances is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. Frances and her three siblings were raised in Rocky Ridge by an Episcopal priest father and a Christian educator mother. She attended Jefferson County public schools prior to her admission to Indian Springs School where she became one of the first women attendees in 1975 when the school went co-ed. She studied Social Science and Criminal Justice at San Francisco State University, receiving her BA there in January 1983. After college, Frances pursued a career in sales and marketing, working for United California Bank, Wan Tso and The Sharper Image in San Francisco; Pizitz, Rich's and Straight Furrow Productions here in Birmingham prior to her decision to attend law school in 2002. Frances graduated cum laude from Cumberland School of Law in 2005 where she served on the Cumberland Law Review Board as Student Materials Editor and as Co-Chair of Cordell Hull Speaker's Forum.
Frances has been married for twenty four years to William G. Nolan (Bill), also an attorney (Nolan Stewart, PC) and she and Bill are the proud parents of one son, William G. Nolan, Jr. (William) who is a college junior studying at Harris Manchester College at Oxford University and will graduate from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota in 2013. Frances enjoys reading, traveling, and exercise and more than anything else, she enjoys the company of her many beloved friends and family members.
Professional Associations
- International Association of Collaborative Practitioners
- Birmingham Collaborative Alliance
- American Bar Association
- Alabama Bar Association
- Birmingham Bar Association
- Family Law Section
- Women Lawyer's Section
- Birmingham Inns of Court
- Shades Valley Rotary Club
- Indian Springs School Alumni Council
Professional Activities
- President, Birmingham Collaborative Alliance
- 2010/2011 American Bar Association, Family Law Section, ADR Committee Co Vice Chair
- 2010/2011 Alabama Bar Association, Family Law Section, ADR Committee Co Chair
- 2011 2013 President, Indian Springs School Alumni Council
- Named 2011 Super Lawyers "Rising Star" in Family Law
Professional Training
- Association for Conflict Resolution Divorce Mediation Training, 2011
- IACP Interdisciplinary Collaborative Practice Basic Training, 2011
- Collaborative Training, Level I, 2008
- Organizational Development Appreciative Inquiry Model at University of the South, 2002
Bar Admissions
- State of Alabama
- United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
- Local Courts of Jefferson and Shelby Counties
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