Family Law from the Experts: Juridictional Issues in Family Law — Faculty Bios
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| Judge Thomas Trent Lewis (Ret.) is a neutral with Signature Resolution providing mediation, arbitration, and privately compensated judge pro tem services in family law. From 2016 until 2019, he was the Supervising Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court Family Law Division. Judge Lewis became a CFLS in 1985 and was inducted into AAML in 1987.
He was inducted as a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Law in 2016. He served on the Family Law and Juvenile Advisory Commission until 2014, and he is a past faculty member for the judicial training committee for family law. He is a past president of the California Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. He is also a contributing author of The Rutter Group’s California Practice Guide: Family Law and serves as Program Director for CFLR. In 2018, he was named Family Law Judge of the Year by the Family Law Section of the California Lawyers Association, and ACFLS awarded him their Hall of Fame Award, the highest award bestowed by them. In 2010, he was awarded the Outstanding Jurist Award by AAML’s Southern California Chapter, and in 2014, he became the first emeritus member of the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists. Among his many awards are the 2015 Los Angeles County Bar Association Family Law Section Spencer Brandeis Award, the 2016 Southern California Inn of Courts Outstanding Jurist Award, and the 2017 San Fernando Valley Bar Association Stanley Mosk Legacy of Justice Award. In 2018, he received the California Lawyers Association Family Law Judge of the Year Award. In 2018, he was awarded the Association of Family Law Specialists (ACFLS) Hall of Fame Award,
the highest honor bestowed by ACFLS. Judge Lewis was also awarded the Southern California American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Person of the Year Award. |
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Anne C. Kiley, CFLS, has been practicing family law since 1990 and has been a Certified Family Law Specialist since 2000. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, with honors, from the University of Michigan in 1986, and received her J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan in 1989. She is a partner at Elkins Kalt in Century City, where she heads their family law department and is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Ms. Kiley has been an adjunct professor of law at the University of Southern California Gould Law School, where she has taught Family Law and Community Property. Ms. Kiley is a frequent teacher for California Family Law Report (CFLR)/The Rutter Group, including co-teaching the annual Family Law Updates, teaching property for the Advanced Family Law Course and co-teaching trial advocacy programs. Ms. Kiley has also made several presentations on family law issues for multiple bar organizations and other groups. Her Martindale-Hubbell rating is “AV,” she has been recognized as one of the top attorneys in Southern California by the Los Angeles Times Magazine, is a Lawyer of the Year Honoree in
Family Law for 2022 and has been included in Best Lawyers in America since 2007.
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| Christopher C. Melcher, CFLS, is a Fellow of the AAML, specializing in complex family law litigation with a focus on premarital agreements. He also handles appeals of family law judgments and writ proceedings. Mr. Melcher has substantial experience in the financial aspects of divorce and as a celebrity divorce lawyer. He served as Chair of the State Bar of California Family Law Section for the 2011-2012 term. He has presented over 200 continuing legal education programs and published books and articles on family law. |
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