PCHS grad receives Family Law Achievement Award

    Earlier this year attorney Debby L. Willis, a 1976 graduate of Piscataquis Community High School and a resident of Gardiner, was the recipient of the Family Law Achievement Award by the Family Law Section during a presentation in Freeport. The honor is given to a person who has made significant contributions throughout their career to improve the practice of family law and/or advance domestic relations status.

    Willis serves as the child support division chief and has been a great asset and contributor to the family law bar for many years. Willis is a proud graduate of PCHS, and after joining the U.S. Army she went on to earn four college degrees. “I believe my solid education at PCHS ably equipped me for college, law school and beyond,” she said. “I believe the work ethic I developed holding down numerous jobs while in school and before the Army served me well. I am blessed to be able to return to my home state of Maine and work on behalf of children and families.”
    She received her undergraduate degree from Campbell University in North Carolina, her law degree from North Carolina Central University and her masters in tax law from Boston University. Willis practiced international transactional work for nearly 10 years before returning to Maine and taking up the practice of family law concentrating on child support. She was the in-house counsel for child support and an administrative hearing officer for the Department of Health and Human Services before joining the Office of the Attorney General.
    Willis’ extensive knowledge of federal and child support law is a valuable resource. Her tireless efforts to share her vast knowledge are acknowledged and appreciated by the private bar and the courts. Family law attorneys are often urged by the court to contact her if they have a child support issue. Willis is respected for her fair, balanced and nonpartisan approach to child support. She trains at Family Law seminars for the Maine State Bar Association. She has also trained attorneys and staff from other states through the Eastern Regional Interstate Child Support Associations and is a resource for the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement.
    In Gardiner, Willis chairs the community’s planning board and ordinance review committee and serves on the comprehensive plan committee and the Gardiner Board of Trade. She is the daughter of Winnie Elderkin of Guilford and the late Richard Elderkin Sr., and granddaughter of the late Myron and Violet Packard.