Ms. Barnett practiced civil litigation and appellate law before serving as a law clerk in the Family Law Department of the Los Angeles Superior Court.  Stephanie extensively researched and analyzed motions for five judges and court commissioners.  While at the court, Stephanie gained invaluable experience that would serve her well in private practice, working on a wide variety of complex legal matters that affect parents, children and divorcing spouses, as well as more specialized matters such as same-sex partner disputes over child custody, the putative spouse doctrine in annulments, calculation and determination of spousal and child support arrearages, routine and convoluted discovery disputes, and requests to seal the public court file in high-profile cases.

Since joining Jaffe and Clemens in 2005, her practice has been dedicated exclusively to family law litigation and appellate law.  She has handled divorce cases involving multi-layered business structures, complex domestic and international investments, extensive real estate holdings, stock options and other intricate compensation packages, family trusts and foundations, characterization of retirement assets, personal conduct restraining orders, custody and visitation of minor children, child support, and spousal support.  Stephanie also drafts prenuptial and postnuptial agreements.  She also has experience in handling paternity actions.

Stephanie is patient, understanding and attuned to the seriousness and urgency of domestic issues.  She is a strong advocate, always considering each client’s unique objectives and priorities.  However, when advantageous to the client, settlement is Stephanie’s top priority.  She is creative and thorough in her approach to settlement, while also acknowledging that settlement is not possible in every case.  Consequently, Stephanie has successfully prepared for, and participated in, several contested court proceedings, ranging from single-issue hearings to multi-day trials.

Practice Areas:

  • Family law

 

University:

  • University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., 1999

 

Law School:

  • Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, J.D., 2002

 

Judicial Externship:

  • Fred Woods, Associate Justice, California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Seven, 2001

 

Judicial Clerkship:

  • Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, Family Law Department, 2003-2004

 

Memberships:

  • Beverly Hills Bar Association, Family Law Section

  • Los Angeles County Bar Association, Family Law Section

  • American Bar Association, Family Law Section

  • State Bar of California

 

Civic/Community Activities:

  • The John Thomas Dye School Parent’s Association Board Member, Executive Committee

  • Sunshine Preschool, Brentwood, Parent Treasurer

  • Harriett Buhai Center, Buhai Brunch, Co-Chair

 

Biography:

  • Selected to Southern California Super Lawyers  “Rising Star” top attorneys list for 2010-2011

 

Languages:

  • Spanish