La Jolla Divorce Lawyers

MS. BASHAR obtained her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Arizona in Management Information Systems in 1987 and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Arizona College of Law in May 1990. She joined the firm after 7 years as a sole practitioner focusing on civil litigation, business and family law. Prior to opening her own office, Ms. Bashar was an associate attorney in a civil litigation firm where she represented financial institutions as well as individuals with personal injury, fraud and contract matters. She has also worked as a Volunteer Attorney with the Family Law...

Drew received his Bachelor of Arts from Queens University of Charlotte, where he majored in Psychology and served as captain of the university tennis team. After college, he attended graduate school at West Virginia University, where he earned master’s degrees in social work and public administration, and participated in many community outreach projects. He also demonstrated exceptional work ethic by completing two master’s programs while simultaneously working as a tennis coach to help pay for his education. He later received his Juris Doctor degree from California Western School of Law, where he was a Dean’s List student and member of...

Lance Claery has been successfully practicing family law for more than seven years. He has worked with a diverse client base ranging from multi-millionaires to low income, modest means clients. He started his career as an attorney working with one of Southern California's most experienced family law attorneys. Thereafter, Mr. Claery began working for one of Southern California's busiest and most prestigious law firms. He was made a partner of that firm very quickly and has since worked on hundreds of divorces and other family law matters. Mr. Claery has handled trials, depositions, arbitrations, mediations,...

Attorney Morgan Nusbaum Jones handles a wide variety of family law matters in San Diego, CA. Born and raised in Charleston, SC, Morgan has called California her home since 2010. Morgan is a graduate of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where she competed in the Scott Moot Court Competition and earned recognition for drafting a top 10 appellate brief. At Loyola, Morgan was also a volunteer mentor in the Young Lawyer’s Program, where she helped high school students put on mock trials. Morgan began her family law career at the Law Office of Cynthia A. de Petris...

I spent over a decade learning from two of the top Family Law attorneys in San Diego County. After being licensed I immediately began handling all areas of Family Law matters and building what became one of the best and well regarded practices in the field. My knowledge of the law often results in attorneys that have been in practice for more than 20 years regularly seek my opinion in their own cases.

At the beginning of 2019 I decided to join the law firm of GARWOOD ATTORNEYS, ALC primarily as a litigation attorney.

The core values in my practice are...

Voted a Semi-Finalist for San Diego’s Top Family Law Attorneys according to the San Diego Daily Transcript. Kyle J. Siems received his Bachelor of Arts in History from Loyola University of New Orleans, where he graduated Cum Laude and was chosen to study at the John Felice Rome Center of Liberal Arts during his junior year. Mr. Siems received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. After graduating law school, Mr. Siems worked as a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii. As Legal Aid, Mr. Siems primarily handled family...

Scott H. Finkbeiner is a co-founder of Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP and is an expert in Family Law as he is California State Bar Certified Family Law Specialist. Scott is also a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Scott has dual degrees in accounting and finance from the University of Arizona. Scott serves as a volunteer for the Superior Court as a judge pro tem, Family Law settlement judge and mediator. Scott specializes in all aspects of complex family law cases from mediations to trials. Scott has litigated all issues involved in divorce and paternity cases...

Attorney Steven J. Prager handles a variety of Divorce and Family Law cases in San Diego, CA. If you are facing the family court system you may be overwhelmed and in need of help from an experienced attorney. Whether your Family Law matter requires litigation or mediation Steven has the expertise to guide you through the process. For the past 12-years, Steven has dedicated his life to the practice of law. He has handled well over 600 cases to date and reports a success rate that exceeds 90%. Originally, Steven began his career with the San Diego County Public Defender in...

Hannah J. Engholm received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, as a University of California Regent’s Scholar. Hannah simultaneously earned her Juris Doctor degree from California Western School of Law and her Master in Social Work degree from San Diego State University. She served as Senior Editor for the California Western International Law Journal. Hannah is involved in several volunteer opportunities, including San Diego’s Voices of Children where she has been a Court Appointed Advocate since 2010. Ms. Engholm has experience with all family law issues.

Born and raised in Michigan, 2nd of eleven children. Electronics Technician in the U.S. Navy from 1968-1975. Prior to limiting practice to Family Law about 20 years ago, I practiced in many other areas of the law including: Real Estate, Personal Injury, Civil Litigation and Bankruptcy.

COMPETENCE CONTROLS OUTCOMES. Dan Knowlton is the son of an attorney who practiced for 62 years, and Dan’s son has also become an attorney. Dan served honorably in the California Air Force National Guard and the California Army National Guard. His bachelor degrees, cum laude, were in Economics, which make business and real estate analysis second nature to him, and Philosophy. He served as president for two terms in a local Chamber of Commerce, and was active with Kiwanis and Optimists International, serving recently as president of a mid-size long-standing San Diego charity. His hobbies are...

Puja A. Sachdev is a family law attorney who graduated cum laude from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California with her Juris Doctorate and obtained her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno in Marketing and Management. She completed her Masters of Science in Business Administration in Financial & Tax Planning at San Diego State University and received the certificate for Personal Financial Planning. Ms. Sachdev is the only family law attorney in the greater San Diego area with the designation of Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™. Prior to her career in law...

I am a founding parter at Shorb & Connor and make it a point to get to know every client that walks through our firms doors. We are a small firm and offer small firm personal service but have the technology and team attorney approach of the larger firms. Ms. Connor and I keep up to date on every case, even thoughs handled by associates. Our goal is to help our clients, and what better way than to provide them with our entire firm's knowledge, not just their single attorney. I began my career at the San Diego Public...

Julia Schneider received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Kansas, with a double major in Spanish and Latin American Studies. After graduation, Ms. Schneider moved to Barranquilla, Columbia where she taught fifth grade science and language arts at a bilingual school. After teaching in Columbia, Ms. Schneider entered California Western School of Law as a Trustee’s Scholar. Ms. Schneider joined Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP in January, 2014 as a certified legal intern through California Western School of Law’s clinical internship program. She later became a law clerk, and now is an associate attorney in the firm. She...

Stephen V. Smith is a dedicated and skilled Divorce and Family Law attorney. He exclusively represents men and women going through difficult divorces and complex family issues. When possible, Stephen uses a non-adversarial approach, involving mediation and settlement. Because emotions run high in this area of the law, Stephen is also prepared to proceed to court to resolve cases. In addition to over 18 years advocating for clients, Stephen has personal experience with divorce. More than 20 years ago, before becoming an attorney, he represented himself in his own divorce and contentious custody battle. During this difficult time Stephen realized what...

Mr. Bourne is a former San Diego criminal prosecutor who prosecuted various criminal offenses and also worked in the domestic violence unit (Family Justice Center) of the San Diego City Attorney's Office. After working for the San Diego City Attorney's office, Mr. Bourne joined a civil litigation firm where he gained extensive experience in various matters including corporate and partnership law and marital dissolution. This experience includes pre-trial discovery, valuation of community and corporate assets, and various legal motion and pleading work.

Mr. Bourne also devotes substantial time as conflict counsel. He represents indigent defendants who cannot afford an attorney...

For nearly 30 years, San Diego family law attorney Roy M. Doppelt, Esq. has been providing clients in Southern California with comprehensive legal services. He is currently an active member of the California and San Diego Bar Associations, and he is admitted to practice law in both California and Illinois state courts, as well as the Federal District Court for the Southern District of California.

Roy was raised in Chicago and attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He relocated to California to attend the California Western School of Law, where he obtained his J.D. in 1988, graduating with honors....

Although our whole firm prides itself on being "warriors in court," I believe that I have a calling to spread the word to folks that there are alternatives to going to court. There are alternatives like mediation, collaborative law and cooperative law. People in our firm, and myself, had to take extra training, often at substantial expense and in other states, to be able to offer those alternative dispute methods for our clients. Now I have hobbies of "spreading the word" about those alternatives. I appear on TV, often with other members of our firm....

Michele B. Brown is an attorney licensed in the State of California and the United States District Court for the Southern District. She is a Certified Specialist in Family Law and the head of the Procopio Family Law Group. Ms. Brown has been practicing family law for approximately 25 years. She handles complex family law matters, including dissolution of marriage actions with business valuations, income analysis and financial litigation, custody, move-away and psychological evaluations, as well as pre-marital agreements, post-marital agreements, post judgment matters and enforcement actions. Ms. Brown cares deeply about the law and her clients....