Family Law Tips and Tricks from the Bench

Justice Gregory J. Weingart has served as an Associate Justice of the Second District Court of Appeal, Division One, since 2022. Previously, he was a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. in 2017, where he primarily handled family law matters and contributed to domestic violence initiatives. Before joining Munger Tolles, Justice Weingart was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. As a prosecutor, Justice Weingart focused on white collar and corporate crime, and served as the chief of the office’s Major Frauds Section

Judge Bradley S. Phillips has served as a Judge of the Superior Court since May 2022, having been appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in March 2022. Judge Phillips sat for more than two years in a family-law courtroom and now sits in an independent-calendar civil courtroom. Before becoming a judge, Judge Phillips was a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, where his practice focused on complex civil litigation in the trial and appellate courts. He had an extensive pro bono practice and served as a board member (and sometimes board chair) of numerous non-profit organizations, including the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Public Counsel, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the National Immigration Law Center.

Tigran Palyan, founding partner of Storm Palyan LLP and Certified Family Law Specialist, practices exclusively in family law. He graduated cum laude from UC San Diego and Southwestern Law School, later clerking for the Ninth Circuit and serving as a research attorney for family law departments at the Stanley Mosk Court. Before founding Storm Palyan LLP, he led Palyan Law APC and worked at Trope and Trope LLP. A published author and adjunct professor at Southwestern Law, Tigran was named a top family law attorney by the Daily Journal and is a “Super Lawyer.” He serves as Vice-Chair of LACBA’s Family Law Section and on boards for the Armenian Bar Association and LevittQuinn.