About Peace-Making » Meet the Staff
Steven Allen Smith, J.D. is the founder of Peace-Making. He has been practicing family law in Portland since 1974, helping thousands of families resolve parenting and custody conflicts through mediation, collaboration, negotiation and arbitration. When trial cannot be avoided, Steven uses the trial process as a disclosing and truth-seeking process rather than as win-lose warfare.
Steven received his law degree in 1974, from Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College in Portland. Steven has focused on trials of complex support and asset division cases, joint and sole custody cases, parenting issues, and caring for children in the divorce process. He offers litigation, mediation, arbitration, self help arbitration, and collaborative resolution as tools that resolve conflict.
Steven developed the Peace-Making course from his work on custody cases. He saw that his conversations and inquiries helped parents recognize that the decision to divorce didn’t require them to hurt each other or their children. Steven’s clients learn new skills and approaches for even the most difficult divorces and custody disputes. They become better parents and, often, are more successful in court because of their improved parenting and partnership skills.
Lisa Belcher has served as an office manager in the Pacific Northwest approximately since 1987. She has been with our team since January 2004 as an Office Manager, Legal Assistant and Mediator. She came to Peace-Making with the skills of loving kindness which come easy to her, and our clients enjoy her compassionate nature. She has studied mediation at Portland State University and is currently training in Peace-Making Mediation. She is a valued asset to our Peace-Making team.