Meet Michele Lowenstein, Partner Lowenstein Brown, A Professional Law Corporation in San Diego, CA

Didja Hear the One About the Divorce Lawyer?  No Joke.

After 27 years as a family lawyer in her native San Diego, Michele Sacks Lowenstein has heard it all — lawyer jokes, disdainful remarks about divorce attorneys, and nasty comments from the soon-to-be-exes.  It’s a wonder she tolerates, let alone embraces her career, the industry and the community education so proactively.
 
Lowenstein is a Certified Family Law Specialist – a designation by California’s State Bar based on experience, examination, education and peer recognition to just 0.55% of nearly 200,000 California lawyers. 
 
It’s no joke to her when a person wants to divorce with dignity, and she’s overseeing and guiding that process for a long-term, positive outcome during this most stressful time.  As a yoga devotee, she recognizes that same goal, stress reduction, in her practice.  She knows that when emotions wear off, her clients are good people that deserve a good life, free to pursue happiness.
 
The Best Approach
 
Lowenstein is amused when a lawyer fancies him/herself a “bulldog”.  She thinks it’s short-sighted to assume a given approach is in a client’s best interest. The arrows in her quiver include several methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution (like mediation, cooperative divorce and collaborative divorce) which are more holistic – often saving not only money, but sanity, an often-absent characterization of divorce.  Lowenstein is an expert in the new field of Collaborative Divorce, having trained directly with its creator, and is a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.  Not that she won’t “kill” in the courtroom when needed, but she’s savvy enough to know when the only thing being killed is her client’s assets.

Giving Back
 
Though Lowenstein’s successful firm earns money from legal fees, she prefers the unpaid work:  She lectures extensively to attorneys and accountants, visitors to the non-profit WIFE (Women’s Institute for Financial Education), regional club gatherings, and divorce support groups.  She takes great pleasure in presenting such topics as:
 
o           What You Should Know about Divorce – Even if you Never Want or Need One
o           Navigating Divorce with Dignity (not an oxymoron!)
o           How the Economy Affects Divorce
 
Lowenstein also enjoys her San Diego Bar Association involvement, as it allows her to help guide her profession for the future. She co-chairs the Family Law Section and periodically serves as a Settlement Conference Judge for its Family Law court.  She worked with its Legislative Committee to help enact legislation requiring parents to support children still enrolled in high school, even beyond age 18. Additionally, her work with the Certified Family Law Specialists Committee resulted in the first-ever rules for the appointment of counsel for minor children in San Diego County.

Closing Argument

Lowenstein respects marriage – she’s enjoyed her own for nearly thirty years and in fact employs her husband, a retired engineer, as office manager.  But she’s equally passionate about respecting divorce – and the right for people to choose to end a marriage that may have already ended in all but name.

Connect with Leslie online at:
www.lowensteinfamilylaw.com
http://www.lowensteinfamilylaw.com/blog