ABOUT SUSAN
For more than thirty years, Susan has endeavored to find smart, ethical, and practical solutions for clients in the family law arena. She has helped her clients through the pain and trauma of the divorce process and guided them to achievable goals while safeguarding their interests and family. Her clients have run the gamut from high-profile celebrities to hard working individuals in all sectors of society. The range of issues she has seen are as varied as the unique problems of a divorce involving a compulsive gambler to international child abduction to misappropriation of money in a family business.
Susan, a native New Yorker, graduated magna cum laude from the University of Connecticut in 1975 and from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1977. She was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1978 and the California Bar in 1979.
She has practiced family law (matrimonial law) in Los Angeles California and served as both a judge pro tem and family law mediator in various courts in Southern California. She has been appointed by the courts in both California and Ohio as counsel to represent minors in child custody disputes. Susan is currently "Of Counsel" at Lewitt Hackman, a business, family law, and consumer law firm in Los Angeles.
Susan co-authored with Valerie "The Smart Divorce" published in 1999. Library Journal found the books advice to be "frank and written in plain English". It has been and remains the goal of both Susan and Valerie to ensure that people understand, and are not blindsided by, the daunting divorce process.
With co-author Valerie, Susan has appeared on numerous radio shows to discuss various aspects of family law, including NPR Larry Mantle show and Michael Jackson. She has spoken at numerous conferences about the topic of divorce including at the Miami International Book Fair.
Susan is the author of the mystery novel, “Hollywood Forever”. She is currently serving on the Board of Southern California Mystery Writers of America. She has been a panel speaker at numerous conferences including Left Coast Crime Santa Fe 2011 and Left Coast Crime Sacramento 2012 and Left Coast Crime Monterey 2014. For more about her fiction, visit www.susangoldsteinbooks.com.
Residing in the Hollywood Hills which puts her near mountains in the sprawling city of Los Angeles, Susan enjoys hiking mountain trails. She also enjoys film noir, travel, ping pong and reading Chinese proverbs. She is available day and night to answer letters from anyone who writes with questions about or related to divorce. But a heads up: she will frequently remind people of an old Chinese proverb that seems fitting for the world of divorce: "Count not what is lost but what is left."
ABOUT VALERIE
Since 1973, Valerie has been practicing family law, with the goal of achieving the best settlement possible for her clients, and with the ability to successfully litigate cases or issues in which settlement was not possible. Valerie has a boutique practice in which she represents clients with complex family law issues involving tax, real estate, custody, interstate custody and child support, characterization and division of marital assets, and appeals.
Valerie graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Michigan before attending UCLA Law School where she received Moot Court Honors and received her J.D. degree in 1973. Valerie is admitted to practice in all of the State Courts in California, the United States Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit, and the San Manuel Tribal Court. She has tried cases in courts all the way from San Francisco to San Diego. She has taught Family Law in law school.
In addition to practicing family law for more than 40 years, Valerie has served on the Family Law Executive Committee of both the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the Beverly Hills Bar Association. Her articles on family law topics have been published. With Susan, Valerie is the co-author of "The Smart Divorce," published in 1999. Valerie has been a speaker at the Los Angeles County Family Law Symposium and at other family law forums sponsored by bar associations, including the Beverly Hills Bar.
Valerie has served both as a judge pro tem and a mediator in Los Angeles Superior Court, and has been appointed to represent minors as minor’s counsel. Valerie has served as an arbitrator of attorneys fee disputes through the Beverly Hills Bar Association.
Valerie loves to spend time with her family and friends, to read mysteries and to ride her horse and garden for relaxation.
