ELEANOR PANETTI
Winston-Salem Divorce & Family Law Attorney
336-724-2600
Paralegal: Jennifer Martin
Eleanor Panetti is a Winston-Salem lawyer who has been practicing family law for nearly three decades. Eleanor provides comprehensive legal counsel to men and women involved in family law disputes, to spouses creating and expanding families through adoption, and to those protecting and caring for children of family members. She is skilled and experienced in all matters related to divorce, custody and paternity, property settlement and support, the legal issues unique to the LGBTQ community, and those specific to senior populations.
Eleanor is passionate in her representation of people involved in family disputes, whether through divorce, supporting parents through child custody and visitation matters, or disputes over property division or spousal support. She appreciates the emotional toll that comes with concerns over custody of children, loss of a relationship in divorce, and the division of one life into two. She has created a professional caring atmosphere that is attentive to the needs of her clients. Her approach to divorce is to provide practical advice with an eye to preservation of the parties’ assets and incomes as well as the relationship between parents who will interact for years to come in raising their children.
Eleanor’s focus on custody matters extends beyond traditional divorce-related visitation issues. Eleanor brings decades of experience to paternity and legitimacy matters, grandparents’ rights and related family custody issues, parents’ rights, and the custody and paternity/maternity related issues unique to the LGBT community.
On the happier side of family law, Eleanor enjoys helping couples planning to marry to start their marriage contracts off on the right foot, creating prenuptial agreements that ensure the protection of individual assets and setting marriages off on a positive financial start. For families trying to create more cohesive units and to bring more love into their homes, Eleanor is an experienced adoption attorney.
Education
- University of North Carolina School of Law, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- J.D. – 1989
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- B.A. – 1986
- Major: Political Science
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Forsyth County Bar Association, Member
- North Carolina Bar Association, Litigation Section, Member
- North Carolina Bar Association, Family Law Section, Member
- North Carolina Bar Association, Women in the Profession Committee, Mentoring and Peer Support Subcommittee Co-Chair
Admissions
- North Carolina, 1989
Professional Service
- Legal Aid Society, Northwest North Carolina Board of Directors, 1998 – 2001
- President, Board of Directors, Mediation Services of Forsyth County, Inc., 1991 – 1997
- Legal Aid Society Volunteer Lawyer Program
- Planned Parenthood of South Atlantic Winston-Salem Council
- AIDS Task Force, 1990-1994