Stacy D. Phillips

Family Law

Los Angeles

Stacy Phillips has been a dedicated practitioner of matrimonial and family law for nearly four decades, having started in late 1984.

"During law school, 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.

In her recent work, Phillips handled a dissolution case involving a couple with a substantial real estate portfolio, aiming to divide assets cleanly to avoid ongoing financial entanglements.

"The obstacles in the first matter included that the real estate had been depreciated for tax purposes such that selling the properties would result in a significant tax event," Phillips said. "There was also insufficient cash to equalize the estate. Whatever equalization payment the husband would pay would need security; the business real estate could not be used as that would trigger having to notify the banks which were involved in the properties. This made it difficult to sever all ties."

Another complex case she managed concerned a wealthy businessman who, fourteen years prior, was hastily served with a restraining order and divorce petition by his then-wife, Phillips said. The client, about to leave for an overseas trip, quickly completed and signed the judgment, altering only the custody arrangement for their daughter.

A decade later, the ex-wife accused him of asset concealment and sought to overturn the judgment on fraud grounds, Phillips said.

Although the court dismissed the fraud allegations, it allowed an investigation into six purportedly omitted assets, at which point Phillips was brought into the case.

"Switching attorneys several times throughout this process, the ex-wife went back to court again and claimed that a page of the original judgment pertaining to spousal support was not the real page," Phillips said. "She sought to replace the page of the original Judgment with a new page that changed the terms of spousal support from three years to only upon her remarriage."

She continued: "We convinced the court to dismiss the issue of the alleged replacement page and persuaded the court to make a minimal fee order as the ex-wife was seeking substantial monies. We went through three mediations, with the ex-wife demanding $10-20 million and my client offering a few hundred thousand dollars. I finally settled the matter the night before going to trial for pennies on the dollar, for both the family law case and a companion probate case filed by the ex-wife on the same issues."

In recent years, one negative trend Phillips noted was an increasing lack of civility and patience among the profession, which frustrates her greatly.

"These trends make matrimonial and family law cases even more crucial, complex and prolonged," she said.