DEBRA A. VEY VODA-HAMILTON has 30 years of experience as a practicing litigator.  Her focus for the past 4 years is as a mediator working to resolve disputes between people involving animals.  Debra is the principal at Hamilton Law and Mediation, PLLC (HLM), the first solo mediation practice dedicated to helping people resolve conflicts involving animals

During her lengthy litigation career, Ms. Vey Voda-Hamilton was an Assistant District Attorney in Westchester County, an Assistant Inspector General for the NYS-MTA Inspector General and in private practice.  She has extensive experience in animal, criminal and contract law having handled cases in numerous situations, including animal abuse, contract disputes, civil disagreements and family disputes about an animal.  Throughout her solo litigation career she brought or defended actions involving disagreements involving animals.

Ms. Vey Voda-Hamilton now exclusively mediates disputes between people over animals nationwide and internationally.  In 2011 she co-chaired a first of its kind program titled, It Doesn’t Have To Be Dog Eat Dog - Introducing Mediation to the Animal Law Practitioner at St. John’s University Law School. Since then she has presented programs all over the country and internationally on how to resolve conflicts over animals more peacefully. She speaks at various State Bar Association Animal Law committees’ annual meetings, National Veterinarian conferences and Pet Service and Entrepreneur Conferences.  She has moderated and co-chairs several NYSBA Committee on Women in the Law Annual and Women on the Move events.

She is a member of the ABA-TIPS-Animal Law Committee and the New York City Bar Association Animal Law Committee.  She is a frequent contributor to the TIPS newsletter, outlining the use of mediation in conflicts between people involving animals.  Debra is a vice president of the ABA TIPS Dispute Resolution Committee, a regional director of the ABA Women in Dispute Resolution and a member of the ABA Women’s Advocate and Women Rainmakers Committees.  Debra is the go to person for information regarding the use of mediation in disagreements involving animals for the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Huffington Post and US News and World Report.

Debra sits on the Board of Directors for: The Center for Understanding in Law, Angel on a Leash, Fur-Bridge, The Irish Setter Club of America and Eastern Irish Setter Association.

HLM uses alternative dispute resolution to help resolve divorce disagreements over the family pet, neighbor arguments over a barking dog and assists animal rights and welfare advocates in sitting down with their adversaries for discussion before, during & after litigation is initiated.

Debra is the author of Nipped in the Bud, Not in the Butt: How to Use Mediation to Resolve Conflicts over Animals and co-author of Onward and Upward: Guide For Getting Through New York Divorce & Family Law Issues. In 2016 Debra released a monthly informative newsletter as well as a podcast titled MAAP.

Debra will do a Table Topics session titled, "Playing Nicely in the sandbox and barking up the right treet"; Addressing Disagreements" between pet owners. She will also share her amazing MAAPING program to protect pets when their 'pawrents' cannot care for them.