Stacy D. Phillips

Stacy D. Phillips of Blank Rome LLP comes from a family of lawyers, but it wasn’t until her time in law school that she settled on pursuing family law.

“Quite literally, I was drawn to the idea of having a client with a heartbeat and knowing that I could absolutely make a difference in the lives of people and possibly their families,” she said. “And what has genuinely kept me in the field and invigorated is helping people in their times of need, which are often very difficult times.”

Phillips joined Blank Rome LLP in 2016 after running Phillips Lerner ALC for 26 years.

She is also well known for writing the 2005 book, “Divorce: It’s All About Control: How to Win the Emotional, Psychological and Legal Wars.”

While Phillips won’t identify clients, among the most famous to have retained her services include Britney Spears, Darryl Strawberry, the former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villairagosa’s wife and the former spouses of Whitney Houston, Axl Rose, Tori Spelling and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

One of her recent notable cases involved representing a client who had a child with a member of a famous high-net-worth family. After more than two years of heavy, contentious litigation in two states and the father’s home country, and after the father was sanctioned significantly in the United States for discovery abuses, the matter settled for millions of additional dollars in child support, Phillips said.

She added she and her team worked to discern the assets, income and lifestyle of the father, which was difficult due to the international nature of the parties and assets, as well as jurisdictional issues within the United States.

“The international nature of the case also made it difficult to acquire the necessary documents and testimonies,” Phillips said. “Furthermore, the mother originally lived in California but moved out of state and the father lived in another country. Nonetheless, the relevant statute adopted by California provides that if California initially had jurisdiction, even if neither party still lives in California, California retains jurisdiction if one party lives in a foreign country.”

Addressing family law trends, Phillips said sees three needs in her profession: complying with the new statute that requires lawyers to report colleagues who are doing something wrong; working towards more civility in the profession; and finally, she believes attorneys should be doing more to aid a multitude of issues faced by modern society.

Phillips serves on the Board of Public Counsel and will be the incoming chair this fall.

“I believe in the adage that those who do well must also do good,” she said. “So, I am a major advocate for not only pro bono work, but I believe our profession can do even more in supporting issues — like those Public Counsel supports — including immigration rights, women’s health rights, veteran’s rights, and LGBTQ+ rights, all of which will require even more of our profession’s time and support in the future.”