Best Lawyers in California, United States for Family Law
Cities
Robert Burch is the founder and managing partner of Burch Shepard Family Law Group APC in Newport, California. Certified as a family law specialist by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization since 2007, Mr. Burch has devoted his career exclusively to family law . He represents clients in a wide range of matters involving divorce , property division , child custody , child support , spousal support , and other family law disputes throughout Orange County and Southern Californ...
Leslie is a partner in the family law team at Withers. Her practice focuses on handling all aspects of family law, concentrating in the area of complex financial issues and custody disputes. While Leslie is adept at litigating cases, she prefers to utilize her experience to achieve settlement whenever possible. Leslie is also experienced at negotiating and drafting cohabitation, prenuptial, and postnuptial agreements. Leslie has been recognized as a Best Lawyer by US News and World Report sin...
Natalia Lopez-Whitaker is a Partner at Nachlis Cohade Lopez-Whitaker LLP in San Francisco, California. She practices exclusively in Family Law and Family Law Mediation , representing individuals and families in a broad range of matters involving divorce , child custody , child support , parentage , premarital agreements, postmarital agreements, cohabitation agreements , and complex family law disputes. Natalia also works extensively in alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, Coll...
Matthew S. Buttacavoli was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. Matthew graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, Irvine (B.A., 1995) and cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law (J.D., 1999), where he served as Executive Editor of the San Diego Law Review and received the General George W. Hickman, Jr. Award for excellence in Constitutional Law. Matthew was admitted to the California Bar in 1999, and was admitted to the United States Supreme Court Bar in 2003. ...
With over 17 years of experience practicing family law throughout California, Marc H. Garelick is a preeminent highly rated Orange County family law litigation attorney recognized for representing high-asset and high-income clients in complex and high-conflict family law matters. He has extensive expertise in divorce, child custody, move-away cases, child and spousal support, visitation, paternity, and domestic violence cases, as well as sophisticated cash flow and compensation structures in ...
Marisa C. San Filippo is a Principal at Flicker Kerin LLP in Menlo Park, California. Her practice is devoted exclusively to family law matters throughout the Bay Area, including divorce , legal separation , child custody and visitation , p roperty characterization and division , child and spousal support, paternity matters , and pre-marital and post-marital agreements . She is certified by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization in family law and is a Fellow of the American Aca...
Jan C. Morimoto-Gee received her undergraduate education from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was a UCLA Merit Scholar, UC Regents Scholar, and UCLA Alumni Scholar. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English, magna cum laude, along with the honors of Phi Beta Kappa and College Honors. Jan graduated from the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall). Jan limits her practice to Orange County Family Law matters.
This firm is devoted exclusively to the practice of family law. Mr. Cruse and his three support staff handle complex family law cases and child custody disputes. Mr. Cruse is in his 43rd year of the practice of law. His clients are business professionals, business owners, military officers, those with professional practices and the financially independent. Mr. Cruse is a recognized expert in electronic discovery.
Peter M. Walzer is the founding partner of the Southern California law firm Walzer & Melcher LLP focused exclusively on family law. He is the current president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. He is a past president of the Southern California Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and is a former chair of the executive committee of the State Bar Family Law Section. Mr. Walzer has been a Certified Family Law Specialist for 23 years and is a former president o...
Lorie S. Nachlis is a San Francisco family law attorney with more than 40 years of experience representing clients in complex family law matters. She is certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization in Family Law and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the International Academy of Family Lawyers. At Nachlis Cohade Lopez-Whitaker LLP , Ms. Nachlis represents clients in divorce , child custody , support , property division , mediation , and ot...
Kelly Woodruff is a seasoned appellate advocate, having represented clients and amici curiae in dozens of significant writs and appeals in the state and federal appellate courts in her 25 years of practice. Over the course of her career, Kelly has gained experience with appellate matters in nearly all subject areas related to business and civil litigation, including intellectual property, breach of contract, torts, probate, and trust matters. Recently, Kelly preserved a multi-million-dollar i...
Leslie Ryland is a seasoned attorney who has spent the last three decades representing clients in all types of family law matters, with a special focus on custody issues. She is a Certified Family Law Specialist, a special designation from the State Bar of California reserved for attorneys who have “demonstrated a high level of experience in the specialty field, fulfilled ongoing education requirements and been favorably evaluated by other attorneys and judges familiar with their work.&...
Erika Scheideman is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area of Family Law. Erika practices law in Los Angeles, California Best Lawyers has recognized Erika Scheideman since 2026. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the professional regard in which Erika Scheideman is held by other lawyers.
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.
