Elizabeth A. Bonanno

Elizabeth Bonanno is a Partner at Gebhardt Emerson Moodie Bonanno, LLC, also known as GEM Family Law. Elizabeth practices exclusively in family law, having served hundreds of clients during her tenure with their divorces, parenting, and child support cases.  Elizabeth’s family law practice has focused on asset and business valuation, income valuation, complex divorce, parental responsibilities, child relocation, and child support matters, among others. Elizabeth speaks both Spanish and Italian and uses these skills to assist non-native speakers in navigating through domestic matters.

Elizabeth’s outstanding legal work and professionalism has been recognized by her selection as a 2017-2023 Colorado Super Lawyer® “Rising Star”, her inclusion in The Best Lawyers In America© 2021-2023 for both Family Law and Family Law Arbitration, by the judicial officers of Arapahoe County, who invited her to serve on their Best Practices Committee, and by Law Week Colorado, who named her as one of only seven “Up and Coming Lawyers” for 2015. She was also a finalist for the Gary McPherson outstanding young lawyer of the year award from the Colorado Bar Association in 2016.

Elizabeth graduated from the University of Colorado Law School with Honors in Juvenile and Family Law. Elizabeth practiced family law for seven years at Griffiths Law PC, and was a partner at the firm from January, 2017 through July, 2019, joining the GEM family on August 1, 2019.  She received additional family law experience as a law clerk to Judge Norman D. Haglund on the domestic docket in Denver District Court.

Elizabeth trained in trial advocacy under Colorado Supreme Court Justice Nancy Rice (Ret.) and displays confidence and poise in the courtroom, having run many hearings and trials - Elizabeth is one of the foremost family law litigators. However, she is also a firm believer in mediation and alternative dispute resolution, assisting clients in settling matters before they reach the courthouse.  Elizabeth is trained in Collaborative Law, whereby parties commit to resolving their dissolution of marriage cooperatively and without the court’s involvement.

Along with her law practice, Elizabeth has authored articles for publications and has presented at seminars on family law topics. She is a member of several professional organizations, including an Executive Council Member of the Colorado Bar Association, Family Law Section, Past President of the Metro Denver Interdisciplinary Committee, an organization committed to the improvement of family law via the intersection of the mental health and legal fields, the Denver Bar Association, the Colorado Bar Association, the Colorado Judicial Institute and the James E. Doyle American Inn of Court, and is a member of the Arapahoe County Best Practices Committee, an invite-only group of judicial officers, clerks and attorneys focused on improving family law in Arapahoe County.