Meet Stacey Levinson of The Law Office of Stacey V. Levinson, APC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacey Levinson.

Hi Stacey, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am an Estate Planning and Family Law attorney, and the owner of The Law Office of Stacey V. Levinson, APC, a boutique law firm in San Diego. I began my career practicing complex family law litigation, representing clients in complicated Divorce and Trust litigation cases. I helped families resolve deeply personal disputes and there were aspects of the work that I truly enjoyed. I represented many vulnerable clients needing protection from ex-spouses trying to use money, power, or prestige to bully them into bad decisions. I helped deserving parents keep their kids. I proved lies and manipulation using careful research and documentation, and I secured meaningful agreements for wonderful clients. It was an exciting time, but, early on, I saw troubling patterns begin to emerge. Families that didn’t belong in litigation would get swept into the system. They’d enter the courtroom terrified, unprepared for the emotional and financial toll of litigation. It was clear to me that many of these conflicts didn’t need to escalate into courtroom battles. Often, all they really needed was an opportunity to communicate.

About a year and a half into my practice, I started encouraging these clients to resolve issues before stepping into the courtroom. We’d meet with their spouses in courthouse hallways, often resolving disputes right before Court. By focusing on common ground, like shared love for their children, I started helping families minimize conflict and reclaim control over their lives. That experience reshaped my approach to Family Law and inspired me to create a practice that prioritized resolution, understanding, and healing over prolonged litigation.

After about 3 years of practice, I opened my own firm, and I had the freedom to create systems that better reflected my values. I come from a middle-class family in Buffalo, New York. My father was a family-man and a veteran, and I’ve never known another human so incapable of doing anything but the right thing. For better or worse, I inherited his lack of patience for unnecessary pain and conflict (and the Miami Dolphins). With my own firm, I could focus on preserving family relationships, lessening conflict and outside noise from litigation, and finding the agreements for clients that would last.

People often ask me how I work in this field or how I love my job, and this is what I explain. I watch clients go from feeling scared and lost at the beginning of a Divorce, to a place of healing and joy, ready to move on. I watch Trust clients have hard conversations about death and inheritance with their families, often reconnecting and resolving old conflicts. I get to help people find a way through uncertainty and pain, to protect their families, to find peace and begin anew. Honestly, how could it be better?

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Everyone faces challenges in life, and I’m certainly no exception, I began my career at the beginning of the recession in 2007. I watched as the courthouses that were filled with clients and their attorneys in ’05 and ’06 became ghost towns in ’07. Fewer and fewer people were able to afford an attorney or a Divorce. It was heart-wrenching watching so many people have no choice but to sacrifice legal representation and peace of mind.

As challenging as these times were, they led me to open my own practice far earlier than expected, and they inspired me to build something that could overcome barriers and truly help a community in need. Because of my experiences during that time, I did away with hourly billing and established a firm that only worked by flat fee. I created new divorce services that worked in conjunction with self-help resources, so that lower-income clients could access the law. I started offering Trusts at 50% off to local heroes like firefighters and active-duty military members, so that they could afford to protect their homes. My clients now are good people from many different backgrounds, and it’s these differences that make my work consistently new and exciting.

Another challenge I still face is the inaccessibility of the law. No one teaches us about estate planning or family law, even though these areas of law will dramatically impact most of our lives. I’ve often wished that we learned the basics in school, along with things like checkbook balancing and tax preparation. Most people, for example, don’t know that they need a Trust if they own a home in California. They don’t know that they need a Prenup (or Postnup) to own the money in their separate bank accounts after marriage. My first job often becomes educating clients on the law, and on the real impact of not being prepared. This is also why I regularly do presentations and webinars, but it can be a difficult barrier.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The most fulfilling part of running my firm has been the ability to shape each aspect of it with care and pride. Each client is treated with respect and dignity. Each contract is handwritten with careful attention to detail. Each mediation is uniquely designed. We meet people where they’re at, instead of forcing them into things that don’t fit.

About half of my practice is Estate Planning. A lot of people think that you have to own a castle before you need an Estate Plan, but everyone over 18 should have something in place. An “estate” is just everything that you own. If you have a bank account or a car, then you have an “estate”. An Estate Plan is the plan for your health, your property, and your family, and it includes things like a Will and Trust. If you own a home in California, you need a Trust, or you’re planning to give the government a big piece of what should go to your family. If you have kids under 18, you need a Will that says who their Guardians will be if something happens to you. It’s common for clients to be unsure about what kind of Estate Plan they need. My firm offers free 20-minute consultations to help, and I’m always here to talk it out. We have 3 different kinds of services – in-home, in-office, or Zoom. I’ve met clients in homes, hospitals, and my conference room, and I represent clients across the state with online appointments.

Divorce Law is the most well-known area of Family Law, but Prenuptial Agreements are probably my favorite part of practice. Most people don’t realize that marriage is a financial contract governed by state law. They often think Prenups make marriage about money, but Prenups actually give you the opportunity to define what your marriage looks like, instead of leaving it up to the state. California law governing Prenups was largely shaped by Barry Bonds and his remarkably one-sided Prenup. His ex-wife successfully challenged the Agreement, because she didn’t have her own attorney to explain its terms (among other things). Barry lost a lot of his property in the aftermath, but things like this happen when an Agreement is clearly designed to take advantage of someone. Whether it’s preserving separate property, protecting a business or inheritance, or customizing financial agreements to reflect your values and goals, Prenups done the right way are truly amazing documents. One of my favorite Google reviews talks about how our Prenup meetings empowered my client and facilitated important conversations with her husband. In my experience, Prenups have a surprising way of bringing couples closer together.

For engaged clients who just want to find out what will happen when they get married, we have 1-hour “Learn the Legal Effects of Marriage” appointments. Couples are welcome to come together or as a single. We talk about separate property, community property, debt, consequences for business partners, potential pitfalls of 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) marriages, protecting family wealth, and when it’s time to get a Prenup. The law is often surprising and counterintuitive. These appointments can be both educational and empowering.

Divorce Mediation is a large part of what we do. We handle every part of the Divorce, from the initial paperwork to property division. We walk clients thru the law, help them establish lasting custody and support plans, and find property divisions that avoid common pitfalls. My goal is for each client to have a fair agreement that keeps them out of court; they do it right and they do it only once. There’s such a big difference between litigation and mediation. My litigation clients used to leave the courthouse alone and exhausted. Now, my Divorce clients will often leave together, making dinner or holiday plans after having mediated their cases. These clients never see a courtroom. We do it all.

We also offer independent 1-hour Family Law Appointments for clients who would otherwise have difficulty affording an attorney. There’s no retainer, no future obligation. We meet for an hour, go over paperwork, self-help resources, the law and protecting their rights, and then we create a plan. California has a significant amount of help available for divorcing couples. There’s always a way forward.

I offer 2 free annual Webinars that aim to increase awareness of the law in the community. I am regularly surprised by how many divorcing couples don’t know their options, or how many homeowners don’t know why a Trust is so important. The next Webinar is “Demystifying Divorce”, a Zoom presentation on July 27th at 3pm. It’s perfect for anyone thinking of Divorce, anyone who was served with paperwork, and anyone lost in the process. Registration is required, but there’s no cost. These are low-stress presentations, given in plain English, that can truly help anyone in the community looking for help with Divorce or Estate Planning.

We continue to offer 50% off of a limited number of Trust Estate Plans for community heroes – current firefighters, police officers, and active-duty military members who own a home. This service operates on an honor system, and it helps us ensure that the people who take care of us are taken care of in return.

We’re a different kind of law firm. Compassionate, effective, fair, and honest. I just don’t want to operate any other way.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
If I can pick up my daughter at the end of the day knowing that I did good work, that I created an excellent product and improved the lives of my clients, that I honored my family and my values, that’s success.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @staceylevinsonlaw
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LAW.SVL
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceyvlevinson/