215-763-5550 (t), 215-763-5553 (f)Debbie@familybuildinglaw.netwww.familybuildinglaw.net Biography of Deborah E. Spivack - C.V. (Admitted in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware)Welcome to the website for the Law Offices of Deborah E. Spivack. My practice focuses on helping families to understand the legal tools available to grow their families and to help them accomplish this in a manner that fits their goals. My background includes direct experience in the international and domestic adoption fields, as well as representing organizations in commercial litigation and corporate transactions. I have worked with client families and organizations over the years to assist them in achieving their goals, and have been a vocal and effective advocate on adoption policy issues.Most recently, I have served as the Executive Director of Reaching Out thru International Adoption. In this position, I was centrally involved in all aspects of placing hundreds of children from countries in Asia, Eastern Europe and Central America with families throughout the United States. I worked closely with adoptive parent clients on all aspects of their cases, and worked closely with foreign counterparts to address legal issues on the foreign processing side of their cases. I also developed relationships with foreign attorneys, orphanages, and government officials to create new adoption programs and provide humanitarian aid. I frequently served as a guest speaker at a number of adoption events geared towards adoptive families for organizations such as Resolve Infertility Network and the Adoptive Parents Committee of New York, and will soon be speaking to agencies about preparations for implementation of the Hague Treaty on Intercountry Adoption. I have held leadership roles in the Joint Council on International Children's Services (JCICS) ( www.jcics.org ), the oldest and largest affiliation of licensed, non-profit international adoption organizations around the world, and other organizations.Most notably, I served an active member of a number of committees (including the JCICS Hague Regulation committee and the Hague Committee of Advisory Council on Intercountry Adoption, a collaboration of national organizations recognized as leaders in the ethical and professional practice of adoption and child welfare services) which reviewed and provided comments to the regulations proposed in 2003 to implement the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 and Hague Convention in the United States. The Hague Regulation Analysis I drafted was widely favored and accepted within the adoption community for its constructive critical analysis of the damaging legal and policy impact of certain regulations, and, ultimately the suggestions proposed in my analysis was adopted in total into the final draft of the Regulations, issued in February 2006. In addition, I served as the JCICS Chairperson of the Azerbaijan Caucus, the Co-Chairperson of the ICARE Government Affairs Committee. In 2005, I was awarded with the 110% Member Award in appreciation for the work performed on the ICARE legislation analysis.I currently serve as a member of the Board of Directors of Focus on Adoption, intercountry adoption advocacy organization whose mission is to further adoption policy that is transparent, ethical and does not limit a child's chance to join a forever family.My legal experience further includes domestic adoption, and corporate bankruptcy and commercial experience for a large law firm in Wilmington, Delaware. After graduation law school in 1993, I served as a law clerk in the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware.My newest and proudest role is being an adoptive mother of a beautiful child from Guatemala. I very much hope to help you to experience the joy of family through adoption or the many legal tools available today through assisted reproductive technology.