Ellen M. Randle

Biography:

Ellen Randle heads the firm’s Domestic Relations Department and is a member of the Litigation/ADR Department.

Ellen’s practice is focused on family law and probate litigation. She has represented some of the highest net worth and net income clients in western Massachusetts and has handled significant divorce cases involving complex financial issues, including business valuations, stock options, retirement and deferred compensation plans, inherited and gifted property, and tax implications. Ellen has successfully negotiated myriad divorce settlement agreements and agreements resolving various contested issues arising after divorce. She has an extensive history of conducting trials in divorce and other family law cases, and of representing clients in appeals and other post-judgment remedies. Ellen has negotiated and drafted antenuptial agreements and has both challenged and defended the validity and/or enforceability of antenuptial agreements in divorce cases. She also is one of the few attorneys in western Massachusetts with experience drafting post-nuptial agreements.

Ellen has represented clients in appeals that have clarified or established new and important law in the domestic relations area, including Goldman v. Goldman, Moriarty v. Stone, Lyons v. Lyons, and Adlakha v. Adlakha.

In the area of probate litigation, Ellen represents both trustees and beneficiaries in contested trust matters. She also represents clients in will contests and disputed guardianship proceedings.

Additionally, Ellen handles a wide range of litigation matters, primarily in the family law area, but also has experience in business and employment disputes, patent cases, will contests and contested guardianships. She has extensive experience in both the state and federal courts, including appellate courts, as well as with alternative forums for resolving disputes, such as mediation and arbitration.

Ellen has lectured and published articles on antenuptial agreements, the tax implications of divorce and other topics relevant to the practice of domestic relations law. She has presented and commented on alimony reform legislation pending before the 2011-2012 session of the Massachusetts legislature. From 1995 through 2001, she served as coordinator of the Voluntary Mediation Project of the Hampden County Probate and Family Court. She is a long-time member of the Bench-Bar Committee of the Hampden County Probate and Family Court, and serves as co-chair of Senior Partners for Justice-West and as an advisory board member for the statewide Senior Partners for Justice.

Ellen has been selected by her peers for inclusion The Best Lawyers in America® each year since 2010 in the area of family law. She has also been selected, since 2004, for inclusion in the Massachusetts Super Lawyers list published in New England Super Lawyers magazine.

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Related Professional Experience:

Before joining the firm, Ellen served as a law clerk to the Honorable Andrew A. Caffrey, Chief Judge, United States District Court, District of Massachusetts.

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Publications:

Co-Author: "All You Need is Love and a Business Assets Prenuptial Agreement" Massachusetts Family Business, Banker & Tradesman (2011).

Co-Author: “Financial Planning: Coping with the Financial Fallout of Divorce,” BusinessWest (October 1991).

Co-Author: "The Tax Reform Act of 1986 and Divorce Practice," 5 Mass. Fam. L.J. 65 (1987) (reprinted in the Connecticut Family Law Journal).

Miscellaneous contributions to various MCLE seminar publications