Rebecca Simpson

Family law is at the heart of what matters most to all of us. Over the course of nearly two decades of practice, attorney Rebecca Simpson has come to understand that the issues addressed in the practice of family law are deeply important to everyone. “Family law impacts the security and well-being of our children, the stability of our family relationships, the protection of our homes, and, ultimately, the insurance of our legacies,” Rebecca says. “Still, every case is as unique and as complex as the people involved.”

Rebecca is a Bowling Green native. She graduated from Western Kentucky University with highest honors and earned a full academic scholarship to Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville. After graduating with honors from Brandeis law school, Rebecca began her legal career in Louisville, Kentucky where she focused her practice on family law and enjoyed a thriving private practice.

After starting a family of her own, Rebecca returned to Bowling Green where she has continued her dedication to the practice of family law. For eight years, Rebecca served as the Warren County family law litigator for Kentucky Legal Aid. In 2016, she brought her dedication to family law and her commitment to public service to ELPO. She was named partner at the firm in January 2018. “Family law encompasses all facets of the law and has a profound and fundamental impact on our clients and on our community,” Rebecca says. “My family is what matters most to me. When representing a client in a family law case, I recognize and respect that I have been entrusted with what matters most to our client.”

Many times, the family law case represents an extremely difficult time in a person’s life. “I view my relationship with our clients as one of collaboration as we navigate the challenges and triumphs of their case,” Rebecca says. What has continually drawn Rebecca to family law is that, “you learn your client’s stories and the stories of their family. You discover how things began, where they may have gone wrong, and how to guide people forward to a promising future.”

Rebecca understands the impact of divorce actions on all aspects of a client’s life, not the least of which are the repercussions that divorce can have on a client’s assets and estate. The impact of divorce on a client’s holdings and how those holdings may ultimately be distributed must be carefully considered and appropriately addressed within family law proceedings. Rebecca’s understanding of potential pitfalls that may be encountered during divorce is vital to ensuring the protection of our clients’ interests and those of their intended beneficiaries as they move forward in life.

Rebecca is quick to point out that family law isn’t just about divorce. “It is multi-faceted,” she notes. For example, Rebecca also commits her professional efforts to adoption, mediation and appeals.

“Few experiences are as joyful as helping people expand their family,” says Rebecca says when discussing adoption. However, joyful as it is, adoption is a complicated process requiring strict compliance with statutory mandates. Rebecca provides a steady and assuring hand through the complexities of adoption.

Additionally, Rebecca is a trained mediator who has been recognized and approved by the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts and by the Warren County Family Courts. Mediation is a process in which a neutral mediator encourages and helps disputing parties reach a mutually acceptable agreement outside of court. Rebecca identifies the value of mediation as, “giving people the power to solve their own problems. The fact that people, through mediation, are able to fashion their own solutions to their problems helps ensure a resolution that is more likely to last.”

Rebecca also has extensive appellate experience and has successfully represented numerous clients at the appellate level. Most recently, in 2014, Rebecca helped establish Kentucky law regarding child custody jurisdiction in the published opinion of Danaher v. Hopkins, 449 S.W.3d 765 (Ky. App. 2014). Rebecca’s successful appeal in that matter is illustrative of her commitment to the interests of her clients and of her understanding of the nuances of family law.

Throughout her career, Rebecca has been committed to professional excellence and to the improvement of the practice of law. To that end, Rebecca is the Chair of the Altnernative Dispute Resolution Committee for the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association, a Fellow of the Kentucky Bar Foundation, and is a member of the IOLTA Board of Trustees. Also, in 2016, Rebecca was appointed by Chief Justice John Minton, Jr. to serve as a Kentucky Trial Commissioner. As a Trial Commissioner, Rebecca presides over disciplinary actions brought by the Kentucky Bar Association against individuals accused of professional misconduct.