Attorneys

Principal Attorney & Owner

Pawnee A. Davis is the Principal Attorney and Owner of the firm, providing leadership and guidance to her team. She is a tenacious advocate for her clients as well as a naturally analytic problem solver. While empathetic and compassionate with clients, she fights hard to achieve the objectives for each matter and guides her team to do the same.

With over 16 years of experience as a practicing attorney, Ms. Davis provides expertise in moderate to high-net-worth contested divorces, high-conflict divorces, uncontested divorces, contempt and modification matters, child custody and child support, visitation, jurisdictional (UCCJEA) issues, and prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. For some time, she also handled civil domestic violence matters, and never lost a domestic violence trial.

Prior Experience: On top of her legal experience, Ms. Davis had a successful investigative and audit career in financial and non-financial matters with the nation’s leading professional services organization, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), in Washington, D.C. Ms. Davis served as a Senior Analyst for the GAO, and she helped the agency provide fact-based, non-partisan information, analysis, and recommendations to Congress and the public for a decade.

Education: Ms. Davis holds a J.D. in Law; M.A. in Public Administration (which she earned summa cum laude and with Distinction); and B.A. in Government. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law where she served as an Editor for 2 years on the Journal of Technology, Law, and Policy after earning the CALI Excellence for the Future Award for her excellent legal research, analysis, and writing skills.

Licenses: Ms. Davis’s state bar licenses are with Maryland and D.C.

Memberships: Ms. Davis is a member of several professional organizations, some of which include: the Maryland State Bar Association's Family & Juvenile Law Section and Litigation Law Section; the American Bar Association's Law Practice Division and Litigation Division; the Maryland Association for Justice's Family Law Section Legislative Committee and Trial Reporter Committee; USA 500 Clubs; the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers; the NAACP; and the Native American Bar Association.

Awards: A few of the awards Ms. Davis has received include: 47 Best Washington, DC Attorneys; Top 100 National Black Attorneys; Top Rated Lawyers in Maryland; Lawyers of Distinction; and Super Lawyers, Rising Star. She also received numerous awards from her career at the U.S. GAO and co-authored over one-dozen U.S. GAO publications.

Sarah R. Barnwell

Of Counsel

Sarah R. Barnwell is Of Counsel to the firm, providing legal and business guidance to the firm's clients. She is a zealous advocate for clients as well as a dynamic problem solver. Her cross-disciplinary and cross-jurisdictional perspective provides clients with a thorough legal analysis which, in turn, saves clients time and money in the long-run.

With over 15 years of experience as a practicing attorney, Ms. Barnwell provides expertise in high-net-worth and moderate estate and succession planning, estate administration, real and personal property rights, business, tax, and employment law matters. She also has a wealth of experience in domestic matters.

Prior Experience: In addition to her legal experience, Ms. Barnwell has experience in a multi-family office that provides wealth management services to a select number of individuals, families, and foundations and as a managing partner of a law office. She also has experience in the non-profit sector, handling business operations, federal and private grant management, compliance, and employment matters.

Education: Ms. Barnwell holds a J.D. in Law with a Concentration in Conflict Resolution; M.B.A. with a Concentration in Health Systems Management; B.S. in Economics, a B.A. in English with a Concentration in Technical Writing and a Minor in French. She is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Law , the Weatherhead School of Management, and the University of Delaware.

Licenses: Ms. Barnwell’s state bar licenses are with Maryland and D.C.

Memberships: Ms. Barnwell is a member of several professional organizations, some of which include: the Maryland State Bar Association's Taxation Law Section and Labor and Employment Law Section; the American Bar Association; and the District of Columbia Bar Association.