Olivia Kay
Mote

Olivia’s practice focuses exclusively on family law. She represents clients in divorce, legal separation, and paternity cases; post-judgment matters involving child custody and placement, child support, maintenance, and contempt/enforcement; third-party visitation claims; marital property (prenuptial) agreements; and other family legal matters in Wisconsin. She also offers divorce mediation services to couples who desire to cooperate in mapping the next chapter for their families. Although based in downtown Madison, Olivia’s practice extends beyond Dane County to surrounding counties, including Columbia, Rock, Jefferson, Dodge, Sauk, Iowa, and Green.

Olivia seeks to offer legal counsel in a supportive, compassionate, and clear manner as her clients navigate challenging moments in their lives. She draws on her professional and personal experiences to meet clients where they are and help them become informed, active participants in their own cases. She listens to each client – to the client’s expression of values and goals – and then she and the client collaborate in moving the case forward from a place of mutual understanding. She considers it a tremendous privilege to serve individuals in periods of life transition and seeks to honor the dignity of each person involved in a case. Olivia understands private legal practice as a problem-solving profession; where possible, she pursues reasonable resolutions through negotiation, but she is also prepared to litigate vigorously in the service of her clients’ interests.

Upon admission to the bar, Olivia spent several years in general practice before narrowing her focus to family law. Her work today benefits from the mentorship she received in a broad range of practice areas as well as the interdisciplinarity that has marked each stage of her career. Olivia continually invests her time in expanding her capacity to serve clients well, including by completing divorce mediation training through the well-regarded Family Mediation Center in Milwaukee and earning a Grief Support Specialist certificate from the University of Wisconsin’s Continuing Studies division. Having served as a member of the faculty at Miami University, where she was an instructor in her master’s field, Olivia’s legal practice also benefits from her teaching experience. She considers it the job of a lawyer to assist clients in understanding how the law applies to their circumstances so they can make decisions best suited to their own objectives.

Olivia is licensed to practice in the state and federal district courts of Wisconsin and her home state of Indiana. She is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin and the Dane County Bar Association. She serves on the board of the Legal Association for Women, presently as co-chair of the annual networking event L.A.W. hosts to introduce law students to area judges and attorneys. Olivia especially enjoys volunteering as a facilitator in the “Coming of Age” program for ninth graders at the First Unitarian Society of Madison.

Olivia earned a Bachelor of Arts in religious studies and political science from DePauw University, a Master of Arts in comparative religion from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, a certificate in Arabic language from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and a Juris Doctor with pro bono distinction from the University of Wisconsin Law School.