About Us
Diana Deyo Ryan, Esq. has been a matrimonial attorney since 1995 and has focused on Collaborative Divorce and Mediation since 2001. Diana has been involved with the Collaborative Law Association of the Rochester Area since its inception, serving on the Education Committee, as a member of the Board of Directors, as the Vice President, and as the current President. She is published in the collaborative publication “Understanding Collaborative Family Law.” Diana has been named a “Best Lawyer in America” for her work as a collaborative lawyer since 2009, and a “Best Lawyer in the Rochester Area.” Diana is an experienced speaker and trainer in the areas of family law and collaborative practice. She has trained extensively in the areas of Pre-Nuptial Agreements, Collaborative Divorce, Conflict Resolution Skill Building, Drafting Agreements in Mediation, and Conflict Resolution Using a Team Approach. She uses a client-centered approach to help divorcing and separating couples reach the best possible outcomes with constructive negotiations. She is committed to helping all clients transition with dignity and respect, through a process that is grounded in their own values.
Diana believes that the well-being of children is an integral part of the separation and divorce process. She follows a best practice approach to ensure that parents have information and support as needed to care for their children throughout the process and afterward.
Diana has extensive experience in complicated financial matters and has helped couples navigate dividing businesses, stock options, stock grants, and address complicated trust issues. Diana has also worked with couples experiencing the disability of a spouse and can advise on how to address guardianship, Medicaid and Supplemental Needs Trust issues.
Sharon Kelly Sayers, Esq. is an attorney, having practiced divorce and family law litigation since 1979. She has recently transitioned her law practice from litigation to mediation and collaborative law in order to offer couples an alternative to a court-centered approach in dealing with the resolution of end-of-marriage issues.
Throughout her career, Sharon has taught Evidence for the Buffalo Law School and has lectured other attorneys on many issues including child custody, valuation of business entities, new legislation, support awards, etc. She has served as Chair of the Family Law Section of the Monroe County Bar Association; served on its Board of Directors, and been actively involved in the various sections and activities to advance the knowledge and improve the practice of her colleagues. She was one of the original founding members of the Greater Rochester Area of Women Attorneys and was chosen by the New York State Chief Justice to serve on the statewide Women in the Courts Task Force. For the past four years, she has served on the statewide Matrimonial Practice Advisory and Rules Committee, taking part in advising the Legislature on revising and creating new legislation and educating newly elected judges.
Until Sharon decided to limit her practice to mediation and collaborative law, she was a fellow of the esteemed American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She has been named in the Best Lawyers in America as well as having been named one of the top 10 women attorneys in Western New York State in Super Lawyers.
Sharon is a devoted fan of western New York. She was graduated from Monroe Community College, where she was named “Alumnus of the Year” in 2015. From there, she was graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a major in criminal justice, then on to Buffalo Law School.
Leaving a successful practice to embark on an entirely different approach to divorce was a major decision. Sharon saw cataclysmic changes in not only the numbers of couples wishing to divorce but also their desire to be more involved in the decisions that would impact the rest of their lives and the lives of their children. Certainly, the laws removing a finding of “fault” in order to divorce, as well as many other progressive changes in the law recognize that divorce is no longer a social taboo. Mediation and collaborative law offer opportunities that allow for the involvement of the spouses/partners in decision making.