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Sharon Baumgold, who spent nearly four decades as a lead writ attorney in the Second District of the California Court of Appeal in Los Angeles, is an expert in the arcane science of writ practice. She literally “wrote the book” on California writs, having authored the Action Guide: Handling Civil Writs in the Courts of Appeal for California’s CEB, Continuing Education of the Bar, every year of publication since 1992, including the latest 2019 edition.

In her decades as a Second District writ attorney, Sharon reviewed, analyzed, and advised appellate justices on more than 10,000 appellate writ petitions in all areas of state law, including arbitration, business and commercial litigation, employment, entertainment, government, insurance, real estate, and probate law. Frequent topics included jurisdiction, service of process, pleading, class certification, discovery (including e-records), expert witnesses, summary adjudication and summary judgment, attorney fees and costs, enforcement of judgment, and others.

Sharon has written and lectured widely on writ practice in California. She chaired the Appellate Courts Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association for two years. She has made presentations on writ practice to the Los Angeles County Bar Association, California Center for Judicial Education and Research, Women Lawyers’ Association of Los Angeles, the Administrative Office of the Courts, and the Beverly Hills Bar Association, and other groups. In addition to her work for CEB, Sharon has published articles on writs for the Association of Business Trial Lawyers and in Los Angeles Lawyer.

Sharon earned her law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. She also received her undergraduate English literature degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude.

Claudia Ribet is one of only four attorneys in California recognized by the State Bar as a certified specialist in both appellate law and family law. This dual qualification gives Claudia deep insight into effective presentation of complex arguments in high-stakes family law appeals.

Claudia has won nearly two-thirds of the California family law appeals she has litigated. Some of her published family law appellate victories include:

• In re Marriage of Rossi (2001) 90 Cal.App.4th 34 [wife intentionally concealed lottery proceeds entitling former husband to award of entire amount]
• In re Marriage of Rose and Richardson (2002) 102 Cal.App.4th 941 [trial court is required to conduct de novo review of custody and visitation issues to determine child’s best interests where Judgment is not final]
• Amy G. v. M.W. (2006) 142 Cal.App.4th 1 [wife of a man who conceived a child out of wedlock cannot come into court claiming the gender-neutral application of the parentage laws to her to oust the biological mother]
• In re Marriage of Sabine and Toshio M. (2007) 153 Cal.App.4th 1203 [husband and wife could not lawfully release child support and spousal support arrearages accrued by husband before the parties entered into post- dissolution settlement agreement]
• Lappe v. Superior Court (2014) 232 Cal.App.4th 774 [family law declarations are not protected from disclosure by the mediation confidentiality doctrine; pet. for rev. denied]
• Anna M. and Jeffrey E. (2017) 7 Cal.App.4th 439 [financial support from a third person should not be counted as income of the payee of child support].

Claudia’s successes in Amy G. and Lappe resulted in legislative changes. In addition, Claudia has served as counsel in many more unpublished family law decisions, as well as a published decision from the California Supreme Court, Erlich v. Menezes (1999) 21 Cal.4th 543, a non-family law case. She also authored an amicus brief in the Supreme Court in Bianka M. v. Superior Court (August 16, 2018) – P.3d – 2018 WL 3912520, where the Court ruled in her client’s favor and held a Special Juvenile Immigrant Status proceeding may go forward in the absence of the father.

Additionally, Claudia is a frequent author of articles about family law appellate issues, having penned more than a dozen for the Daily Journal, Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine, and Family Law News.

Claudia has been a member of the State Bar’s Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission (the “JNE Commission”) and, for many years was Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s State Appellate Judicial Evaluation Committee (“SAJEC”).

She is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the International Academy of Family Lawyers.

Claudia graduated from Antioch Law School in Washington, D.C., and received her undergraduate degree in philosophy with high honors from Oberlin College.