Amber L. Barber

Amber Barber handles all aspects of divorce and civil union dissolution, including complex financial issues, extensive marital assets, post-judgment modifications and court order enforcement issues. She helps clients negotiate custody and visitation disputes, child support issues, spousal maintenance/alimony matters and property division agreements, frequently working to resolve complicated issues involving business valuations, pension and retirement plans, stock portfolios and real property.

Amber provides comprehensive advice about the fairness and equity of proposed settlement agreements and has considerable litigation experience. When children are involved, Amber’s goal is to help her clients obtain a resolution which is in the children’s best interests and to secure a fair and equitable resolution with regard to their financial situation.

Amber is a member of the Family Law Section of the Vermont Bar Association, having served as Section chair from 2007 to 2008. She is an elected member of the VBA Board of Managers. She previously served on the board as a representative of VBA's Young Lawyers Division and is a past-president of that group. She is treasurer for the Chittenden County Bar Association.

Amber is a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. AAML applicants must have practiced primarily in the area of family law for at least ten years and must pass written and oral examinations, receive recognition as first-rate matrimonial lawyers by judges and peers, aspire to high ethical standards and demonstrate involvement in activities that elevate the standards and improve the practice of matrimonial law. AAML fellows are widely recognized by judges and attorneys as preeminent family law practitioners with a high level of knowledge, skill and integrity.

As a participant in the Military Family Law Pro Bono project in 2009, Amber helped to train lawyers on how to file and modify parental rights orders for deploying service members, what to include in proposed orders to provide for long-distance parenting and parent-child contact, how to consider military benefits in child-support calculations and other military-specific family law topics.

Amber also helped to draft the state’s Military Parental Rights Act and testified before the Vermont legislature about the protections the bill offers to children when a divorced parent is deployed. The comprehensive bill, which Governor Douglas called “a model” for the rest of the nation, was signed into law in March 2010. 

Amber has, for several years, served as a judge for “We, the People: The Citizen and the Constitution,” a program designed to promote civic competence and responsibility among high school students. The competition is held each year at the Vermont State House.

Amber teaches Pro Se Education for Chittenden Family Court and is a frequent lecturer on all aspects of family law, including complex litigation. Recent presentations include:

Vermont's Evolving Family Law, Vermont Bar Association Mid-Year Meeting, March 2010

"Finance 101 for Family Law Practitioners" and "Ethics," Family Law from A to Z, National Business Institute, September 2009
Topics addressed include: valuation and division of real estate, insurance, stock options, retirement plans and other assets; tax ramifications of divorce; petitioning for child support and child support enforcement options; drafting Qualified Domestic Relations Orders and bankruptcy

Panelist, Continuing Legal Education Program to train attorneys participating in the Military Family Law Pro Bono Project, sponsored by the Vermont Bar Association and the Vermont National Guard, July 2009

Family Law Topics for the Tax Practitioner: Legal Separation, Alimony, Child Support, Form 8332 Child Exemption Allocation and Qualified Domestic Relations Orders, Vermont Tax Practitioners Association, Montpelier, June 2009

"Fair and Equitable Asset and Liability Division," Successful Financial Settlements for Your Divorce Client, National Business Institute, May 2009

Roadmap Through Divorce Proceedings, National Business Institute, November 2008

Family Law: Helping Your Clients through Difficult Cases, National Business Institute, March 2008

The Future of the Legal Profession: Law Office Management & Technology: What’s Next? Vermont Bar Association, October 2007

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