Teresa Ombres is a graduate of Fordham University and New York Law School and is admitted to the practice of law in the States of New York and New Jersey. She began her career in divorce and family law in 1981 and began mediating in 1996 after trainings in Community Mediation and Divorce Mediation. From 2000 – 2003 Teresa was the Director of the Custody-Visitation Mediation Program at Community Mediation Services for the Queens Family Court. In 2001 she was part of the first group of New York City lawyers and mediators to be trained in Collaborative Divorce. She devotes her time to her private practice, a number of professional organizations, teaching and giving workshops. She handles contested cases as well as mediations and collaborative cases. Teresa uses problem-solving skills, cooperation and creativity, normally associated with mediation and collaborative law, in litigated cases as well. This cutting-edge approach provides a better, more amicable, less expensive way of resolving divorce cases. Teresa has served on the Board of Directors of the Family and Divorce Mediation Council of Greater New York and the New York Association of Collaborative Professionals. She is a founding member and Vice President of the New York Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. Teresa is also a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Nassau County Bar Association and the Queens County Bar Association. She has guest lectured at CUNY Law School and Touro Law Center and presented CLE workshops at Community Mediation Services, Inc., the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation, the Westchester Bar Association and many other venues. Teresa taught the Judicial Matrimonial ADR Externship at St. John’s University School of Law for three years and currently teaches the Mediation Clinic at Hofstra Law School.
