Practice Areas: Family Law; view more
Licensed in Virginia since: 2003
Education: Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2019 - 2025 
Selected to Rising Stars: 2007, 2009, 2011 - 2014 Call today:
757-390-3331
Virtual Appointments Chaing Anders
1333 Laskin RoadVirginia Beach, VA 23451 Visit website
Details
Allison received her Juris Doctor in 2001 from Loyola University School of Law at New Orleans. After law school, Allison returned to Virginia and clerked for an Administrative Law Judge with the Department of Labor in Washington, DC for one year. Thereafter, she worked as an associate at McKenry, Dancingers, Dawson & Lake from 2003 to 2006, as an associate and partner at Kaufman and Canoles from 2006 to 2015, and as a partner at Parks Zeigler from 2015 to 2022. Allison’s has exclusively practiced family law since 2006.
Allison is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) and is currently serving as the Treasurer of the Virginia chapter of the AAML. Allison is also a member of the Virginia Beach Bar Association (VBBA), Virginia State Bar (VSB), Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (VTLA), and Virginia Bar Association (VBA). She has been very active with the VBBA, serving on various committees since 2003 and is currently the president. She has also been a member of the VBA Family Law Coalition since November 2015.
Allison has been honored and recognized by numerous organizations: she has been recognized by Best Lawyers®, rated a Rising Star by Superlawyers.com, rated "Top 50 Women Super Lawyers in Virginia" and "Top 100 Super Lawyers in Virginia" by Superlawyers.com, named Legal Elite by Virginia Business magazine, as well as Top Lawyer by Coastal Virginia Magazine; AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell; and she’s achieved a 10.0 rating by AVVO. She has also served as moderator, presenter and panelists for Virginia CLE, VTLA and National Business Institute.
Outside of the law, Allison has served on the Board of Directors for REACH (Reading Enriches All Children), Inc., a local non-profit. She also spends as much time as possible with her husband, son and two pups. They thoroughly enjoy being outdoors. When they are not at the beach or swimming, they enjoy fishing, paddle boarding, camping and hiking. Allison is also an avid reader and loves a good suspense novel.
Practice areas
Family LawFocus areas
Alimony & Spousal Support, Child Support, Custody & Visitation, Divorce, Father's Rights, Marital Property, Name Change, Paternity, Prenuptial Agreements
- 100% Family Law
First Admitted: 2003, Virginia
Professional Webpage: https://www.chainganders.com/our-team
- CLSBA (Conference of Local and Specialty Bar Associations) 2018 - Present
- Virginia Beach Bar Association - Member since 2003, President 2024, President-Elect 2023, Secretary 2022, Treasurer 2021, and Director (2019 - 2020)
- Virginia Bar Association, Family Law Coalition (2015-Present)
- Virginia Bar Association
- Virginia State Bar
- American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Virginia Chapter, Treasurer 2024, Publicity and Membership Chair (2020-2023), Publicity Chair (2019-2023)
- Virginia Beach Bar Association, Golf Committee, Co-chair (2017), Chair (2018)
- Virginia Bar Association, Family Law Division
- Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, 2019
- REACH (Reading Enriches All Children), Board of Director (2009), President (2012)
- Attorney Mentor, Model Judiciary Program, 2003
- 2019 to the present Best Lawyers® was first published in 1983 and is regarded as a definitive guide to legal excellence, Best Lawyers - Family Law, Best Lawyers in America
- Coastal Virginia Magazine’s Top Lawyers are selected via an annual poll in the legal field to identify regional attorneys who show excellence in their respective fields, Top Lawyers - Adoption, Marital, and Family Law, Coastal Virginia Magazine
- The gold standard in attorney ratings, have recognized lawyers for their strong legal ability and high ethical standards for more than a century, AV Preeminent, Martindale-Hubbell
- The Avvo Rating evaluates a lawyer’s background based on the information available in an attorney’s Avvo profile. Avvo creates the rating using a model that considers information the lawyer has included on their profile in addition to the information collected from public sources like state bar associations and lawyer websites, Avvo 10.0 Rating, Avvo
- 2019 to the present Super Lawyers Magazine is a publication that includes the annual Super Lawyers list. This list distinguishes attorneys who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement, Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
- I was awarded the Whole Village Award for my work with the Tallwood High School Global Studies Academy and the Model Judiciary Program, Whole Village Award, Virginia Beach Education Association, 2016
- This award is a peer-based award and voting is open to any licensed lawyer in Virginia. Virginia Business annually polls more than 14,000 Virginia attorneys, asking them to nominate the best lawyers in each of the 18 practice areas (2013, 2014, 2019), Legal Elite, Virginia Business
- 2007, 2009, 2011-2014 Super Lawyers Magazine is a publication that includes the annual Super Lawyers list. This list distinguishes attorneys who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement (2007, 2009, 2011, 2012), Rising Star, Super Lawyers
- BS in Criminal Justice from Old Dominion University, 1992-1996
- JD from Loyola University School of Law at New Orleans, 1997-2001
- Presented on the Division of Federal, State and Military Retirement Plans, Presenter, QDROs and COAPs: Ethical, Drafting, and Litigation Traps for the Unwary, 2023
- Presented on Issues in Custody and Support Cases when a Party or New Spouse is a Military Member, Presenter, VBBA Annual JDR Bench Bar CLE, 2023
- Discussion focusing on maintaining effective professionalism in legal practice, Speaker, Ethics: Professionalism Minus the Zealousness in Civil and Criminal Cases, 2019 VBBA-VBDJR Annual CLE, 2019
- Discussed Courtroom Practice and Technology in The Covid and Post-Covid World – How Did We Handle It, and How Are We Moving Forward?, Panelists, Family Law Seminar: What Now? Family Law Practice in a Changing World, VTLA, 2021
- Military divorces and/or custody proceedings need not be overwhelming or intimidating. Our goal in writing this book is to provide you with the knowledge of what a divorce or custody proceeding entails. We want to provide military members and their spouses a reference outline that makes understanding the process less daunting, Co-Author, Duty Deployment Divorce - The Family Law Guide for Military Members and Their Dependents, Parks Zeigler, PLLC, 2018
- A discussion on family law matters including custody & visitation with military parents, qualified domestic relations orders (QDRO), and spousal support after retirement, Speaker, Custody and Visitation with Military Parents, Qualified Domestic Relations Orders, and Spousal Support Post Retirement, Norfolk/Portsmouth Bar Association, 2017
- Moderator of a Family Law CLE, Moderator, 36th Annual Family Law Seminar, Virginia CLE, 2017
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2019 - 2025
- Rising Stars: 2007, 2009, 2011 - 2014
