Jessie Archibald

Jessie is currently working on her first ever ANDVSA case, a divorce case for a Spanish-speaking client. Jessie has said that while the language barrier has presented some challenges in the case, “ANDVSA staff have been incredibly supportive, and helped me to get set up with on-demand interpreter services”. These interpreter services, which ANDVSA has access to via a partnership with Alaska Institute for Justice’s Language Interpreter Center, are available to all ANDVSA volunteer attorneys and can be the key difference in ensuring that a survivor has access to safety and justice.  

Although this is Jessie’s first volunteer case with ANDVSA, she is far from a stranger to the world of family law.  Prior to accepting a job offer in Alaska, she had a private practice in Tacoma, Washington that included family law cases. In 2007, she accepted a job with Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska where she worked as a Staff Attorney for the Tribe’s child support program and worked closely with the Tribe’s Judiciary Committee to help set up T&H’s Tribal court. Jessie comes to volunteering with a robust history of experience working on domestic violence cases.  Her work experience includes working as a DV attorney at the AWARE Shelter in Juneau.  She then moved on to work as a Staff Attorney and then Senior Staff Attorney with Alaska Legal Services and continued to handle a DV case load, as well as representing Alaska residents in other civil matters. She recently ended her job with Alaska Legal Services and plans on working part-time as a sole-practitioner and expects to work in the family law field.  She said she plans on continuing to volunteer when she has time because she has “always had a passion for supporting survivors.”    

Jessie grew up in Wrangell Alaska, moved to the lower 48 to attend college at the University of Northern Colorado before attending law school at Puget Sound University in Tacoma, Washington. Outside of work, Jessie enjoys photography, hiking and traveling.   

Thank you, Jessie, for your continued dedication to supporting survivors of domestic violence in our state!