About Tracey
Tracey Coates graduated from Smith College with a B.A. before earning her J.D. from Hamline University School of Law in 2005. She built her legal foundation during law school and shaped her practice in the years after graduation. Her academic background provided a base for both litigation and alternative dispute resolution work she later pursued.
She holds a principal role at Paley Rothman. Coates is licensed to practice in the District of Columbia and in Maryland. Over the course of her career she has combined courtroom experience with mediated settlements, taking on cases that require negotiation as well as litigation skills.
Coates expanded her mediation credentials early in her practice. She completed a 40-Hour Basic Mediation Training in 2009 and later earned a Certificate of Completion in Custody Mediation Training in 2015. Those trainings inform the way she approaches family matters, particularly where client interests overlap with parenting and custody concerns. She accepts matters that lead to mediation and also handles contested proceedings when resolution at the table is not possible.
Her professional involvement includes membership in a range of bar and civic organizations. She serves on the Board of Directors of the D.C. Volunteer Lawyers Project and volunteers through that program. She holds memberships in the District of Columbia Bar and the Maryland State Bar. She is active in the Bar Association of Montgomery County, including its Family Law Section and its Leadership Development Academy, and she maintains membership in the American Bar Association’s Family Law and Young Lawyers Sections. She is also a member of the Women’s Bar Association of D.C. and has volunteered in the past with Women Empowered Against Violence (WEAVE).
Colleagues and clients see her as a practitioner who moves between negotiation and court advocacy. Her work often centers on family law matters and on assisting clients to reach practical resolutions. She manages cases from initial consultation through resolution, including drafting agreements and representing clients at hearings when necessary. She also accepts roles as a mediator in custody-related disputes when appropriate.
She remains based at Paley Rothman, handling cases in Maryland and the District of Columbia. Her current practice centers on family law and mediation matters.
