Anne C. Kiley

LOS ANGELES - Anne C. Kiley gets excited about trends and changes in California family law, whether they directly impact any of her current cases or not. She especially enjoys the work she does writing and giving presentations to other lawyers about new developments in the law. That’s something she does often for the Rutter Group and as a lecturer with USC Gould School of Law.

So she is closely following new case law that questions limitations on spousal support in prenuptial agreements, for instance. The Domestic Violence Prevention Act is being expanded by courts and the Legislature, she said. And there’s the new statute that allows California courts to assert jurisdiction in cases involving transgender young people living in states that restrict transgender care.

“That’s what I really like to do … work on programs and study the cases and do the videos and on-demands,” Kiley said.

Sometimes, she even gets to teach about one of her own cases — though she perhaps enjoys that less. She represents Brad Pitt in his long-running divorce case with Angelina Jolie. In 2020, Jolie moved to disqualify the private judge they had hired, citing the judge’s failure to disclose some matters he had handled involving some of her ex-husband’s attorneys. Although the motion was blocked at the trial court level, the Court of Appeal reversed on a writ. Jolie v. Superior Court, 66 Cal. App. 5th 1025 (July 23, 2021).

“It’s not my favorite opinion for a lot of reasons,” Kiley said. She did not handle the appeal.

She also does not like talking about this or any case involving any of her famous clients, who have included Dr. Dre and Britney Spears. “I’m very private, and I think that most people who hire me really respect that,” she said. “I don’t like to talk about any particular case at all.”

Kiley has handled other cases with interesting legal issues. She is currently representing a client in Mexico in a case involving disputes over international jurisdiction. There is ongoing litigation in both Mexico and California over who has jurisdiction under the Hague conventions, she said. “That’s been really fun.”

What she enjoys the most, she said, are cases with good attorneys on the other side who share her goal to get their clients through the family litigation process and on with their lives. She prefers to resolve cases rather than litigate them. If litigation is necessary, it should be conducted efficiently, she said.

“Being able to work through a case and have it resolved without a significant amount of attorneys’ fees, to me, that’s a win,” Kiley said. “I feel good when cases are resolved … in a way that conflict hasn’t been enhanced … and money isn’t going to be wasted.”

- DON DEBENEDICTIS