Karen S. Sendelbach, Member of Nichols, Sacks, Slank, Sendelbach & Buiteweg, P.C.

Immediate Past Chairperson, Family Law Council of the State Bar of Michigan

Certified in Elder Mediation

Past president of the Washtenaw County Bar Association’s Family Law Section

Appointed Member, Michigan Bar Association’s Attorney Discipline Board

A "Super Lawyer" - "Rising Star" a designation given to less than 3% of all attorneys in Michigan

“I believe clients who understand the law are better able to make decisions regarding their situation. We work together to resolve difficult family issues as early as possible.”

Karen S. Sendelbach has represented clients at all levels of the judicial system, from mediation and other informal dispute resolution through the trial and appellate levels. She is frequently sought out as a lecturer on family issues for both professionals and the public. Because she has focused her practice exclusively in family law for the past 15 years, Karen is trained in all popular methods of dispute resolution: litigation, mediation, collaboration and arbirtration and appellate law. She has also completed guardian ad litem training, which qualifies her to represent children during contentious family law litigation.

Prior to her election by her peers to chairperson of the State Bar of Michigan's Family Law Council, Karen was elected chairperson of the State Bar of Michigan’s Amicus Curiae committee. Karen wrote several legal briefs to both the Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court on behalf of the family law attorneys in the State of Michigan.

Active in her community, Karen has served on the Board of Directors for the Women’s Justice Center in Detroit, Michigan, a domestic violence shelter. She also worked as an attorney for Oakland Livingston Legal Aid and volunteers for the Board of Advisors for the Great Lakes Invitational Conference Association, a Model United Nations and Domestic Issues conference for high school students from Michigan and worldwide. She is also active in local school issues.

Karen is a cum laude graduate of the Syracuse University College of Law in Syracuse, New York, where she was named Outstanding Woman Law Student by the National Association of Women Lawyer’s and received the American Jurisprudence award for Jurisprudence of Criminal Justice. As an undergraduate, Karen was honored with an Outstanding Senior Award at Michigan State University.

Karen is frequently sough out as an arbitrator, mediator, or parenting facilitator by her fellow attorneys.