Experience
Attorney Christine L. Derr is a Board Certified Expert in Marital & Family Law. While Christine is known as a skilled litigator, she is equally adept at fashioning creative, mutually beneficial resolutions in mediation and through her Collaborative Divorce Practice.
While she is proud of her success in the courtroom, Christine's experience has taught her that the most advantageous way to resolve a case is usually at the negotiation table. Christine believes that the collaborative process is suited for cases where the parties seek a confidential, less contentious solution.
Regardless of whether a case is collaborative or contested, Christine puts in the same effort to analyze each case, get the right answers, and allow clients to make informed decisions. Christine believes that clients are in the best position to make decisions about their families and finances, and an attorney's role is to use her training, analysis, and experience to help navigate those decisions.
Background and Education
Christine was born in San Francisco, raised in California and has lived in Tampa since 1999. Christine received her B.A. with honors in history from the University of California at Berkeley in 1990 and her law degree from the University of Florida in 2004.
In law school, Christine served as Editor-in-Chief of the Florida Journal of International Law, as an assistant coach on the International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Team, as judicial intern to the Honorable Alexander L. Paskay, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge Emeritus for the Middle District of Florida, and as a research assistant to Professor Barbara Bennett Woodhouse. During her third year, Christine received recognition for her pro bono participation in the domestic violence division of the State Attorney’s Office, Eighth Judicial Circuit. Christine began her legal career as an associate at Harris & Hunt, P.A.
Christine formed Derr Law Firm in 2008 and has since expanded the firm to three attorneys, offering services to family law clients through multiple avenues of dispute resolution. Christine is a collaboratively trained attorney and also assists clients through mediation and complex litigation, when necessary.
Publications, Classes and Seminars Taught
- Cast of Characters: Professionals in a Family Law Case, Lawyer Magazine, Hillsborough County Bar Association Lawyer Magazine, 2013
- Why You Should Consider Using a Final Expert, (two-part article co-authored with Kristin DiMeo, CPA), Lawyer Magazine, Hillsborough County Bar Association, November 2009 and December 2009
- Timing is Everything. . .Or Is It?, Lawyer Magazine, Hillsborough County Bar Association, March 2006
Honors and Awards
- Admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court
- Recognized by Super Lawyers Magazine as a Rising Star in Family Law
2009-2013 - Recognized as a Florida Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers Magazine, 2014-2016
- Recognized by Florida Trend's Legal Elite, 2011-2013
- Recipient of the 2010 Theodore Millison Professionalism Award
Professional Associations and Memberships
- The Florida Bar, Family Law Section
- Hillsborough County Bar Association, Family Law Section
- President, 2011-2012; Secretary, 2009-2010 - Stann W. Givens Family Law Inn of Tampa
- Executive Council - Mentoring Committee, 2010-2011 - Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers
- President, 2010-2011
- President Elect, 2009-2010
- V.P. of Programs, 2008-2009
- Treasurer & Stetson Law Mentor, 2007-2008
- Director of Community Outreach & Stetson Law School Mentor, 2006-2007
- Member of Community Outreach Committee, 2006-2005 - Network of Executive Women of Tampa, Florida
Community Service and Involvement
- Pearl Society Member - Bay Area Legal Services women's giving circle
- Lawyers for Literacy, 2008-Present
- Pro Bono volunteer, Bay Area Legal Services
- Are You Safe, Inc. Board of Directors
- The Tampa Connection, Class of 2010
If you have questions and would like to have a consultation with Christine L. Derr, please contact us today at (813) 254-0022.