Rhonda F. Butterfield

Rhonda Butterfield is a strong advocate for men’s rights.  She attended law school during an era when women constituted only 20% of her law school class and were not part of the “good old boy” club.  Early in her career, she advocated for women’s equal rights in the workplace.  Her philosophy has come full circle, and she now advocates for men’s equal rights in the family.  Her father was an important person in her upbringing.  Later, as a single parent raising a son and daughter, she came to appreciate the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears that parents give in order to raise their children.  She understands the single-parent life – it is the toughest job she has ever had.

Ms. Butterfield has had significant national and international experiences.  She lived in Australia for one year in high school as a Rotary Exchange Student.  Her college career included one year in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill as a political science intern.  She graduated from college early, with high honors, and received a scholarship to attend Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.  While there, she was on the staff of the Criminal Law Review.  After graduation in 1976, she came to Alaska for a one-year internship with Supreme Court Justice Jay A. Rabinowitz, and she knew before arriving that she would stay. She has lived and practiced in Fairbanks, Kenai, and Anchorage, as an Assistant District Attorney and Assistant Attorney General, prosecuting all manner of criminal cases, including domestic violence, assaults, and child sexual abuse.

She focused for several years on drug prosecutions and helped re-write Alaska’s criminal drug laws in the early 1980s.  She represented Alaska in the Western States Information Network, an information-sharing group focused on eliminating illegal drug trafficking from 5 western states.  She trained as a trial advocate and became an instructor in trial advocacy.  While in the District Attorney’s Offices and the Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals (OSPA), she handled upwards of 150 jury trials, and dozens of appeals.  She traveled around the country in 1993 as the alternate member for Alaska House Speaker Ramona Barnes, a member of the President’s Commission on Model State Drug Laws.

From 1994 – to 2001, she worked on the civil side of the state Attorney General’s Office, representing the Child Support Enforcement Division (CSED, now CSSD) in the Department of Revenue.  There, she gained a great deal of knowledge about the ins and outs of child support.   After retiring from the state, she entered private practice, and her entire focus has been on family law issues for the past 18 years.  She handles trials, settlements, administrative matters, and appeals with the knowledge, experience, and confidence of someone with four-plus decades of legal experience in the Alaska court system.

Ms. Butterfield cares about people.  She cares about her clients and their families.  She is meticulous in her legal work, submitting the highest quality pleadings to the Alaska courts.  She is well regarded among her peers in the field of family law and currently serves on the Family Law Committee of the Alaska Bar Association.  Her volunteer legal work includes providing services to veterans, and to low-income obligors relating to child support issues, through the Alaska Legal Services Corp. pro bono program.

Rhonda enjoys the diversity of Alaska and Alaskans.  From Alaska, she has visited Japan, Australia (3x), and New Zealand.  She has said proudly:  my mechanic is from Chile; my hairdresser is from the Philippines; my computer IT people are from Mexico; one of my favorite judges is from Malaysia; my best friend is from Northern Ireland and Australia, and my law partner is from Texas!

Her other volunteer activities reflect her commitment to families and children.  She volunteers in the nursery at her church.  She has been active in the Boy Scouts of America for nearly 20 years, even though her son earned his Eagle rank in 2009.  She was the Chair of the Great Alaska Council Emergency and Risk Management Committee, and an active adult and merit badge counselor in the Boy Scout program, helping a new generation of boys grow up to become good men.  She is a small group leader and legal advisor to the Practical Positive Parenting program, helping parents become better parents.

When she is not working or volunteering, Rhonda enjoys quilting, reading, and kayaking.  She appreciates the privilege of living in the incredible beauty of Alaska.