Eleanor Stegmeier and Saul Gelbart founded the firm in 1995, after they established their reputations in the Family Law community. Ms. Stegmeier started practicing in 1978 and Mar. Gelbart started in 1981. As our firm grew, long-time associates Jason Schwartz and Robert Benavente became partners, and they become known as SGSB. In 2015, Joan Loos and Jason Coleman were elevated to the partnership level.  Today, we have 12 lawyers on our team as well as a Mediation Center.

Our Mediation Center will be the highest quality service of its kind in Orange County and, perhaps, in all of Southern California. Eleanor Stegmeier and Michael Fisher are Fellows in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and both have completed the advanced Mediation courses offered by The Academy and Pepperdine University’s Strauss Institute. Eleanor and Mike will be joined by Matthew Heim, who may be the only lawyer with a Marriage & Family Therapy degree providing Mediation services in our area. The new office will have a dedicated Mediation Room with breakout rooms and an attending paralegal.

A couple of years ago we expanded to San Diego with a satellite office. Our business in San Diego is steadily growing and we envision expanding that office in a few years.

Our Orange County office is staffed with 12 lawyers and seven Legal Assistants or Paralegals. We are prepared to handle all aspects of Family Law litigation, as we have for many years. We also offer “limited scope” representation, which allows a client to select the type of service that we provide and, if necessary, limit the retainer fees for that service.

Our firm is unique in Orange County as we have four lawyers who are Fellows in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Seven lawyers are Board Certified by the State of California as Family Law Specialists. Please feel free to visit our website at www.sgsblaw.com to learn more.