Attorney and Staff Profiles

Why do I do what I do?

I consider it an honor to help people and their families find peace of mind knowing that no matter what the future brings, their wishes and rights are protected by a legally binding plan.

Prior to launching my own estate planning firm, I served as court-appointed counsel on the Los Angeles Mental Health and Probate Court Panels. For years I guided my clients through very complex legal systems and thought I was making a difference – helping vulnerable and marginalized people and their families – but when it came down to the most essential issues, including life and death decisions, I was actually helpless. Once you are in these court systems you lose control of your ability to make your own decisions and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

After witnessing the financial, emotional, and even physical devastation (I fought for the right to die with dignity for a few clients, but our efforts were frustrated by the realities of the bureaucracy of the legal system and the clients suffered needlessly for weeks) resulting from the unpredictability of court, I changed course. Rather than fight the system, I set out to help people completely avoid the system.

I decided to trade my time arguing in front of judges for time educating people and providing counseling in estate planning.

Now I work collaboratively with my clients to create personalized financial and health care plans that will keep them out of the courts and keep their private matters private.

As a team, you and I will delve into your goals, concerns, and dreams and build your unique plan to speak for you when you can no longer speak for yourself.

I want to make it easy for you to discuss challenging topics and make difficult decisions. No one likes talking about the possibility of incapacity or their own mortality – but once you do and we get your plan in place, you will keep control of your ability to make your own decisions about your financial and health care choices. This is when our clients tell us they finally get that peace of mind knowing that no matter what happens, they have a legally-binding plan that will carry out their wishes and leave a legacy of love and compassion for their families.

My education:

I graduated from The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 1998. While at Cardozo, I participated in their Bet Tzedek Legal Clinic where I represented indigent elderly and disabled people. I was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1998 and the California State Bar in 2012.

I joined my husband, Seth, at Bier Law in February 2022.  When Seth left mental health court and started the firm in 2020, I knew very little about estate planning and, to be honest, thought it was something rich people did.

In July 2020 I lost my best friend, Royana, unexpectedly.  She had tested positive for COVID, and was suffering terrible symptoms that were attributed to this still-mysterious virus. Eventually she ended up at Urgent Care where they did a battery of tests and diagnosed her with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. She died six days later.  She was 47.

Losing her changed my life.  It made me face realizations that dying isn’t just for the old, that anything can happen at any time.  I witnessed her end-of-life moments, and was grateful that she and her husband had the hard conversations throughout their marriage, so he knew exactly what she wanted, and he was able to honor those wishes.

I learned quickly that estate planning means more than just passing on your “things” when you die.  It’s having a comprehensive plan in place so that the decisions you make now will be carried out if you become incapacitated or pass away.  Royana’s husband didn’t need to be burdened with making decisions about her care in the end – he knew exactly what she wanted.

I had been working for TriLinc Global, an impact investment firm that focused on making a difference in the communities where it invested. I felt I was contributing to something really positive after spending the previous 25 years at conventional investment firms.  But Royana’s death and the pandemic in general made me reexamine my priorities once again and what was truly important to me.  The more I learned about how Seth could help people, the more I wanted to be a part of it.