Family Law Special Topics: Appeals, ERISA, Tax, Bankruptcy and other issues

Faculty:

Judge Pellman was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court bench in 2008 and prior to that appointment was a Commissioner from 2005 through 2008.  Judge Pellman has served at the Stanley Mosk and the Downey Courthouses.

Prior to joining the bench, Judge Pellman was the Legal Director of the Alliance for Children’s Rights from 2000 through 2005.  Judge Pellman also served as an Appellate Attorney/Senior Attorney at the Dependency Court Legal Services, now known as the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles.  Judge Pellman began her legal career as a civil litigator.

Judge Pellman also serves as an Adjunct Professor at Southwestern Law School.

Honey Kessler Amado is a certified appellate law specialist, certified by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization, and has been so since 1997. In addition to representing clients in the review courts, Ms. Amado serves as a consultant in the trial court on issues or cases anticipated for appeal, reviews cases to advise on the merits for appeal, and assists with writing and editing complex memoranda of points and authorities and briefs.

Ms. Amado currently sits on the Appellate Courts Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, serves on the County Bar’s State Appellate Judicial Evaluations Committee, and serves on the voluntary settlement and mediation panel of the California Court of Appeal, Second District. She sat on the Child Support Advisory Board of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors until it was disbanded in December 2009. For a number of years, she sat on the Editorial Board of Los Angeles Lawyer magazine, having served as Chair of the Editorial Board for the 2000-2001 term. She enjoys an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and is honored to have been named as a Super Lawyer of Southern California in appellate law since 2005.

Ms. Amado has authored a number of articles on legal issues relating to appellate law or family law, including co-authoring a chapter on Hague procedures in the United States in international custody disputes for an international treatise and an article on calculating the time to appeal in state court. She is a frequent speaker and panelist on various law-related issues, having presented at a number of local study groups, bar associations, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the California State Bar, and the American Bar Association.

Ms. Amado has a number of published opinions, including: Kristine H. v. Superior Court (Lisa R.) (2005) 37 Cal.4th 156; Marriage of Feldman (2007) 153 Cal.App.4th 1470; Marriage of Abargil (2003) 106 Cal.App.4th 1294; Marriage of Brewer and Federici (2001) 93 Cal.App.4th 1334; People v. De Leon (1994) 22 Cal.App.4th 1265; and Posey v. Leavitt (1991) 229 Cal.App.3d 1236, 280 Cal.Rptr. 568.

Len Meyberg has been practicing law for more than forty years.  He is recognized as an expert in family law and has lectured on the topic in a multitude of local and state forums for almost thirty years.  Len frequently speaks on issues related to the valuation and division of marital property and marital termination agreements.  He also frequently teaches programs related to recent developments in family law.

Len is heavily involved in Family Law sections of our California local bar associations, as a member and a leader, including the Beverly Hills Bar Association and the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA).  Currently he is an Executive Committee Member of LACBA’s Family Law Section.  

Len has been a volunteer Judge Pro Tem and Mediator since 1980. 

Representative cases include:

Counsel for Petitioner in Trial Court and Respondent on Appeal in In Re Marriage of Roe 18 Cal.App.4th 1483 (1983)

Counsel for Petitioner in Trial Court and on Appeal in In Re Ivey 85 Cal. App.4th 793 (2000)

Counsel for Petitioner/Appellant in Trial Court and on Appeal in Marriage of Pidduck (unpublished decision) (2003)

Ram F. Cogan, who has practiced law for the past 19 years, and who joined the firm of Phillips, Lerner, Lauzon & Jamra, LLP in the spring of 2005 as an associate, handles all aspects of family law matters including the litigation of those disputes that escalate to trial.

With extensive experience as a business litigator, Mr. Cogan integrates his broad knowledge of business law, trial strategies, and sophisticated law and motion practice into the often complex intricacies of the various issues that present themselves in the process of resolving family law disputes.

As a partner (including managing partner) with the Los Angeles law firm of Lindahl, Schnabel, Kardassakis & Beck, Mr. Cogan worked in various areas of law including cases involving complex business disputes, professional liability, defamation, wrongful death, and product liability.

Born in Israel, Mr. Cogan migrated to the United States in 1967, only a few days after that country's Six-Day War.

Mr. Cogan is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law, where he received his J.D. in 1987. While at UCLA School of Law, Mr. Cogan was an editor for the prestigious UCLA Environmental Law Journal.

Admitted to practice law by the State Bar of California in 1987, Mr. Cogan was also admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court Central District as well as the U.S. District Court Northern District of California that same year. In 1995, he was admitted to the U.S. District Court Southern District of California, and in 1990 was admitted to practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit.

Active in the firm's Adopt-A-Center program, Mr. Cogan is also a founder, board member and executive committee member of the Beverly Hills Basketball League. Since its inception, that organization, now in its ninth year, has grown from 400 participants to 1,200 players ranging in age from kindergarten through high school.

Amy Goldman serves as Chair for the firm-wide Bankruptcy and Insolvency department at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP.  Amy has more than 20 years experience in the bankruptcy field and handles the following matters: 

• Management responsibilities for individual Chapter 7 and complex  corporation Chapter 11 cases
• Representation of Chapter 11 and 7 Trustees, Debtors, Debtors-in-Possession, Secured and Unsecured Creditors (including professionals, non-profits, healthcare entities, and insurance companies) in bankruptcy and work-out proceedings in a wide variety of industries
• Representation of Assignees for the Benefit of Creditors, Federal and State Court Receivers, and Disbursing Agents Under Chapter 11 or out-of-court work-outs
• Chapter 7 Panel Trustee for the Central District of California (1998 - present) appointed by the Office of the United States Trustee

Amy is heavily involved in various bankruptcy law related associations at the local, state and national level, including:  

• National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees Board of Directors (2005-2008)
• California Bankruptcy Forum Board of Directors Member (1996-present): President (2008-2009); Vice President (2007-2008); Secretary (2006-2007); Treasurer (2005-2006)
• Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum Board of Directors Officer and Member (1986-present): President (1999-2000); Vice President (1998-1999); Treasurer (1997-1998); Secretary (1996-1997)
• Ad Hoc Trustee Committee on Amending Local Bankruptcy Rules (2006)
• International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation
• Co-Chairperson of Southern California Chapter (2004-2006)
• Women of Los Angeles
• American Bankruptcy Institute
• Los Angeles County Bar (Bankruptcy Insolvency Section

Amy has been extensively involved in Bankruptcy programs, in speaking and organizing roles.  She has also authored multiple articles related to Bankruptcy.  For Amy’s full biography and publication list, see: http://www.lbbslaw.com/attorneybio.aspx?id=720.  Amy graduated Loyola Law School in 1987.

Roger Halfhide has been practicing in the areas of tax, ERISA, estate planning, pensions plans, and employee benefits for almost thirty years.  Roger has an LLM in Taxation from New York University School of Law. 

Roger has taught courses as a lecturer and adjunct professor for UC Los Angeles, the University of San Diego and the CSU Long Beach Graduate School of Business.  

Roger frequently speaks on pension plans, taxation, LLCs, estate planning, and employee benefits.

He is a member of the CA and New York bars.