John's Profile

I was admitted to practice law in California on January 5, 1968, having attained a degree of Juris Doctor from UCLA on June 13, 1967.  I am also admitted to practice before the United States District Court, the United States Supreme Court, and the United States Tax Court.

Upon my admission to practice in California, I was first employed as the Chief Research Attorney at the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division II, for nearly two years.  In 1969, I entered the private practice of law in Orange County, specializing in family law matters.  My practice has been limited to family law proceedings for over 30 years.

I am a certified family law specialist, achieving that distinction with the first group of lawyers so admitted. I am a member of the Family Law Section of the Orange County Bar (serving as Section Treasure in 1984 and as Secretary in 1993); the Section of Family Law of the American Bar Association, serving on its Child Custody Committee; and I was the first attorney in Orange County to be elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.  I have previously served as Vice President of the Academy’s Southern California Chapter and as its Counsel.  I am a Master Bencher of the Robert L. Banyard Inn of Court and the first and only Orange County attorney to be board certified in family law by the prestigious National Board of Trial Advocacy.  I am also a member of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

My lecturing credits include the California Trial Lawyers State Convention, numerous programs for Continuing Education of the Bar, and the Orange County Bar Association’s “Bridging the Gap” program.  Moreover, for a number of years, I authored the article, “Family Law Practice in Orange County” for the Los Angeles Bar Association Family Law Symposium.  I was also a contributing editor for the  CEB treatise, “Practice Under the California Family Law Act”.  I am listed in Continental’s, “Who’s Who of Professionals and Executives”, Woodward/White Inc.’s, “The Best Lawyers in America” and Marquis’, “Who’s Who in American Law.”

I was among the first group of attorneys elected to serve in the  Judge Pro Tem program of the Orange County Bar, and acted in that capacity in literally dozens of family law matters over the past 25 years. My legal rating is “AV”, the highest possible.