Dr. Premela Deck is a forensic social worker and family law attorney.

As an attorney, Premela is a partner at SD Law, P.C. and practices family law as a litigator, mediator, collaborative attorney, parenting coordinator, and Guardian ad Litem. Prior to her doctoral studies, Premela clerked for Justice Beasley of the North Carolina Supreme Court; represented criminal defendants in show-cause hearings as a Litman Fellow at Harvard Law School; and designed a supportive protocol for condemnation due to hoarding as a Law Clerk for the City of Springfield, Massachusetts.

As a forensic social worker (LICSW, PhD), Premela founded SD Family Services, Inc. and primarily serves as a custody evaluator, parenting coach, or therapist for high-conflict families, couples, or individuals who frequently find themselves affected by family court. Premela has experience as a therapist for parent-child contact problems (“reunification therapy”) and teaches the high-conflict parenting education course at William James College. Premela’s research focuses on high conflict families, resist and refuse dynamics, parent competencies, and forensic social work during separation and divorce.

Premela received her BA from Mount Holyoke College; her MSW from Springfield School of Social Work; her JD, cum laude, from Western New England School of Law; and her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Social Work. Premela completed a one-year fellowship with William James College on conducting child custody investigations and earned a certificate in child and family forensics. Premela’s experience as an attorney, clinician, and researcher informs all of her work and allows her to provide a holistic approach to cases that is both evidence- and client-driven.

Premela is on the board of directors of the Massachusetts chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (“AFCC”) and on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Association of Guardians ad Litem (“MAGAL”). Premela is an adjunct professor in the Master’s of Social Work programs at Bridgewater University School of Social Work, the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill School of Social Work, and Boston College School of Social Work.

Premela provides expert testimony; training and mentorship on high-conflict family dynamics and child custody evaluations; supervision for social workers; and consultation on doctoral research projects.

Premela does not accept insurance and she is an approved CPCS Vendor.