Linda Haspel, Retired, is a founding partner of Haspel, McLeod & Drawbaugh, P.C. She had devoted her impressive 36-year career to helping families with their legal issues. Linda is well regarded as a skilled family law practitioner. Because of her substantial knowledge, Linda was called to testify as an expert witness on child support before a U.S. Congressional Committee chaired by Rep. John Dingell (D-MI). Washingtonian Magazine named Linda as one of the top 50 family law attorneys in the Washington, D.C. area. She has taught litigation and family law at the University of Maryland and continues to speak at conferences on the subject.

Linda is a trained mediator who is regularly appointed by the court to mediate divorce cases that are pending in the circuit court for Montgomery County, Maryland. The circuit court also appoints Linda as a facilitator to assist litigants in resolving disputes during the initial stages of their litigation. Linda is trained in collaborative law and often assists families in reaching a settlement through this effective alternative dispute resolution method.

Linda and Gwendolen Lesh McLeod combined their extensive family law experience to found Haspel & McLeod in 2002, (now Haspel, McLeod & Drawbaugh, P.C.). Linda and Gwen have practiced family law together since 1990.

Notable experience

• Legal Aid Society of San Diego, California, staff attorney, 1975 to 1979
• Prince George’s County Senior Citizen Law Project of the Legal Aid Bureau, Inc. of Maryland, managing attorney, 1979
• Montgomery County Office of the Legal Aid Bureau, founder and chief attorney, 1981 to 1987
• Haspel & Meiselman, Chartered, co-founder and partner, 1987

Professional affiliations and community service

• Montgomery County Commission for Women
• Montgomery County Community Action Board
• University of Maryland, University College, former adjunct instructor of litigation and family law
• Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers (MICPEL), teacher
• Maryland State Bar Associations Family Law Section Council, three-year term
• Montgomery County Bar Association
• Montgomery County Women’s Bar Association
• Maryland State Bar Association
• Maryland Women’s State Bar Association Montgomery County Commission for Women, seminar speaker on family law topics

Published cases

• Carroll v. Housing Opportunities Commission, 306 Md. 515, 510 A.2d 540 (1986)
• McNaughton v. McNaughton, 74 Md. App. 490, 538 A.2d 1193 (1986)
• Noffsinger v. Noffsinger, 95 Md. App. 265, 620 A.2d 415, cert. denied 627 A.2d 539 (1993)
• Malik v. Malik, 99 Md. App. 521 638 A.2d 1184 (1994)
• Malik v. Hosain, 108 Md. App 284, 671 A.2d 988 (1996)
• Campitelli v. Johnson, 134 Md. App. 689, 761 A.2d 369 (2000)