Top Rated Family Law Attorney in Los Angeles, California
Meet Lisa Helfend Meyer
Meet Lisa Helfend Meyer
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it was very interesting how i found my
way to law first of all i am the eldest
of three sisters
i think my father always wanted to be a
lawyer and never graduated college
and i think that he always pushed me in
that direction
when i was graduating ucla i really
wanted to go into broadcasting
and i spent a summer at a local
television network and i saw how poorly
women were treated by male executives
and i knew that i never wanted to be
disrespected and put in that position
and then when i was speaking to my dad
about it my dad said
go to law school so i said okay
and i was the first in my family to
graduate college and then i went to law
school and i hated law school from the
moment i started until the moment i
did it it was awful
but then i started working first in
personal injury and i worked for an
attorney where
he didn’t even give me my own office i
had to share an office with him
and he paid me a thousand dollars a
month so when i asked him to increase me
to uh fifteen hundred dollars a month he
wouldn’t do so and so i said this is not
for me then i got into
working with victims of domestic
violence and i decided i love this
because i’m a people person i love
hearing people’s stories i love helping
people i like when people
transform themselves when they go to
being a victim to becoming
empowered and strong
and i then opened up a domestic violence
restraining order
practice where we worked with
individuals who were victims of domestic
violence
and then naturally from that came
divorce so i would make appearances for
people with very low income
and i would charge like 25 or 35 dollars
a day to go to court
and from there it kind of took off
so i really never
had
the traditional training that somebody
would have at a large firm
but i was very tenacious and i was very
hungry to learn and i’m a very
competitive person so i was able to
develop a very strong practice from
those humble beginnings
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what guides my work philosophically as a
family family law attorney i think
is helping people and making their lives
better
and what i say to clients when they
initially see me
is
even though this is very scary and the
future
isn’t necessarily certain at this point
in your life and it’s going to be
different from what you experienced
before
it could be different in a positive way
so it’s not like somebody is coming to
see me because they’ve been diagnosed
with a terminal illness they’re coming
to see me
for a divorce or for custody related
issues
and my goal is to make them feel
that this could be something for the
better in their life so they’re
getting rid of a bad relationship a
dysfunctional relationship
maybe they’re becoming a better parent
because they don’t have the other parent
to lean on so they have to
establish a closer relationship with
their children maybe they need to learn
more about
finances and you know how to
pay your bills and how to prepare a
budget and how to learn about assets so
all of those things help you
individually become a better and
stronger person so that’s my goal to see
you at the end with a smile on your face
saying you know thank you for helping me
get through this i never thought that i
would end up the way i’ve ended up in
such a positive way
Los Angeles, CA family law attorney Lisa Helfend Meyer shares why she became a lawyer and the philosophy that guides her practice. She shares that her path to law was shaped early by her family. As the eldest of three sisters, she remembers her father, who had always wanted to be a lawyer but never graduated college, encouraging her in that direction. When she was graduating from UCLA, she initially pursued broadcasting and spent a summer at a local television network. There, she witnessed how poorly women were treated by male executives and knew immediately that she never wanted to face that kind of disrespect. After discussing her future with her father, he suggested she go to law school, and she followed his advice, becoming the first in her family to graduate college.
Law school, she recalls, was a difficult experience; she disliked it from start to finish. Her first job in personal injury law was equally challenging—she shared an office, earned only a modest salary, and realized it wasn’t the right fit for her. She then began working with victims of domestic violence and discovered her passion. She loved listening to people’s stories, helping them transform from feeling powerless to empowered, and supporting them through difficult times. This led her to open a domestic violence restraining order practice, serving low-income clients, sometimes charging minimal fees for court appearances. From there, her practice naturally expanded into divorce work. Despite lacking the traditional training at a large firm, her tenacity, hunger to learn, and competitive nature helped her build a strong and successful practice from humble beginnings.
Philosophically, she says her work as a family law attorney is guided by helping people improve their lives. She tells clients that while divorce or custody issues can feel scary and uncertain, these changes can ultimately be positive. She encourages clients to see the potential for growth: leaving a dysfunctional relationship, strengthening their relationship with their children, and learning new skills like financial management and budgeting. Her goal is always to guide clients through these challenges so that, at the end, they leave stronger, more empowered, and even smiling, grateful for the support that helped them navigate such a pivotal period in their lives.
