WILKINSON & FINKBEINER - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Co - Founder
• Member of the San Diego County Bar Association

David K. Wilkinson received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, one of the highest ranked undergraduate business schools in the United States, where he was awarded membership to the National Dean's List. Mr. Wilkinson received his Juris Doctor degree from California Western School of Law School, where he received an honors award for authoring The EGTRRA Estate Tax Sunset Provision, Reform And Politics: A Fungible Alternative To Repeal, received the highest grade in both Contracts II and Arbitration Law, and graduated in the top one-third of his class. Mr. Wilkinson, co-founder of Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, practices family law for the firm, handling all facets of the practice area, from straightforward negotiation and preparation of pleadings to complex litigation. Mr. Wilkinson has previously represented small and large asset clients in all types family law matters. While the Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP philosophy adheres to a settlement-as-a-first-option, litigation-as-a-final-option mentality, several recent cases handled by Mr. Wilkinson evidence the broad range of his competence in both regards. In one recent case, Mr. Wilkinson successfully negotiated to allow his client to move with the parties' young child out of the state of California and to another state. "Move-away" cases are inherently complicated, but Mr. Wilkinson set his client up for success by preparing a strong case from the outset. In another recent case, Mr. Wilkinson represented a mother who was fighting a guardianship action, which if granted by the Court, would have effectively taken the child out of the mother's care. The proceeding had been dragging on for nearly one year. Within one month, Mr. Wilkinson prepared for and won at trial. The child was returned to the custody of the mother immediately. In several other recent notable cases, Mr. Wilkinson won another "move-away" matter which lasted almost two days in trial, successfully won his client a $20,000 attorney fee award as a sanction against the other party for his egregious conduct, successfully filed and received a judgment on a motion for child support arrears against a father who owed almost $300,000 to the children's mother with accrued interest, successfully defended a domestic violence restraining order filed by the mother in a child custody matter which was intended to gain an advantage in the proceeding, obtained a default annulment (nullity) judgment for a client, and successfully negotiated an amendment to a Marital Settlement Agreement by filing a motion to set aside based on the failure to provide disclosures. Mr. Wilkinson has also litigated and negotiated cases where millions of dollars in assets must be divided. Mr. Wilkinson has extensive experience in dealing with Evidence Code 730 experts that are involved in high-asset cases, including forensic accountants, income evaluators, and business valuation experts. With more than a decade of experience in family law litigation, Mr. Wilkinson has tried and successfully argued countless family law matters with high-value property valuation and property issues, dealing with multimillion dollar real estate, dividing stock, stock options, and restricted stock units, and dealing with extremely high income levels as it relates to spousal support.* Mr. Wilkinson is also active in the community. Mr. Wilkinson currently serves as a member of the San Diego County Bar Association, American Bar Association and formerly a volunteer for the San Diego Legal Aid Society. For the past four years, Mr. Wilkinson has served as a supervising attorney for the California Western School of Law and University of California San Diego joint collaborative legal-medical Community Law Project and recently received the Judge Judy Keep Award from UCSD. Finally, Mr. Wilkinson recently earned his certificate from the California State Bar as a Family Law Specialist. This means that Mr. Wilkinson is an expert in Family Law matters and is one of the less than 300 family law specialists throughout San Diego and Orange Counties.

Hannah J. Engholm received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, as a University of California Regent's Scholar. She assisted in teaching "Introduction to Psychology" and "Psychology of Children in Extreme Circumstances" and was presented the Psychology Teacher of the Year Award in 2008.Ms. Engholm graduated Summa Cum Laude and was admitted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. Ms. Engholm simultaneously earned her Juris Doctor degree from California Western School of Law as a Trustee's Scholar and her Master in Social Work degree from San Diego State University. Ms. Engholm served as a Senior Editor for the California Western International Law Journal and earned the California Western Law Review Outstanding Associate Award. Ms. Engholm received the highest grades possible in several law school courses, including Family Law, Criminal Procedure, Trusts and Estates, and Skills Training for Ethical and Preventative Practice. She assisted in teaching several law school core courses, including Criminal Procedure and California Civil Procedure. In 2013, she earned the Alex L Cory Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service in recognition of her outstanding service to Pro Bono and Public Interest communities in San Diego and at California Western School of Law. Ms. Engholm was also chosen by the California Western faculty as a recipient of the Faculty Award in recognition of her significant and positive contributions to the law school. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in the top seven percent of her law school class and held a spot on the Dean's list each possible semester. During law school, Ms. Engholm volunteered with the Center for Community Solutions as a Cal-EMA certified Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Crisis Intervention Counselor as part of her legal internship. She assessed safety and legal needs of domestic violence survivors in crisis and prepared clients for court hearings regarding custody and domestic violence restraining orders. Additionally, Ms. Engholm helped connect clients to community resources for safe housing, counseling, childcare, and employment. Ms. Engholm is also involved with local foster youth. She currently volunteers for San Diego's Voices for Children, where she has been a Court Appointed Advocate (CASA) since 2010. As a CASA, Ms. Engholm mentors and advocates for a foster child in San Diego County. During law school, Ms. Engholm worked for the Alliance for Children's Rights in Los Angeles as a Benefits Advocate for foster youth caregivers. She investigated denied entitled benefits for foster youth, negotiated with Los Angeles County officials, and appeared at administrative hearings on behalf of the caregivers. Ms. Engholm joined Wilkinson & Finkbeiner as a certified law student through California Western's clinical internship program.Ms. Engholm has experience with all family law issues, including dissolution of marriage, nullity of marriage, child custody and visitation, move-away requests, child support, spousal support, step-parent adoptions, and pre-marital agreements. Ms. Engholm is a San Diego North County native and spends her free time hiking and mountain biking in the local mountains. She has run the San Diego Rock'n'Roll marathon numerous times and avidly participates in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.

Job Titles:

• Co - Founder of Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP

Scott H. Finkbeiner is a co-founder of Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP and is an expert in Family Law as he is California State Bar Certified Family Law Specialist. Scott is also a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Scott has dual degrees in accounting and finance from the University of Arizona. Scott serves as a volunteer for the Superior Court as a judge pro tem, Family Law settlement judge and mediator. Scott specializes in all aspects of complex family law cases from mediations to trials. Scott has litigated all issues involved in divorce and paternity cases including child custody and support. Scott focuses his practice on cases involving the characterization and division of high asset and complex marital estates involving multi-million dollar corporations (both domestic and foreign). He also works on division of smaller financial estates. Scott's background in accounting and finance uniquely qualifies him to quickly identify the issues and resolve complex issues involving asset characterization, direct and indirect tracings, division of property, including stocks, options, restricted stock units, retirement benefits and reimbursements. Scott is an expert in all aspects of child support and spousal support whether in family court or department of child support services. Scott has represented numerous self-employed individuals as well as a party whose spouse operates as a self-employed individual. Scott has lectured on the law and analysis for determining support related to stock options, restricted stock units, and other executive compensation. Scott has litigated countless cases involving military service members and represents spouses of a military service members. Scott also specializes in all aspects of child custody and visitation matters. Scott has litigated many cases involving psychological evaluations, minor's counsel, move-aways (domestic and international), alleged child abuse, interstate child abduction, post-judgment change of custody cases, drug and alcohol abuse and every other issue concerning minor children. Scott has represented non-parties and grandparents in both child custody matters as well as guardianship matters in the probate courts. Scott is an expert in cases involving domestic violence. In addition to previously lecturing on the law as it pertains to domestic violence, Scott has successfully sought and defended clients on many domestic violence cases throughout his career. Scott is familiar with the interplay between a pending criminal domestic violence case and the family court's civil restraining order process. Scott is a frequent lecturer on all aspects of family law, ethics and professional responsibility. Scott has presented on issues of the Fundamentals of Family Law, Stock Options & Executive Compensations for Purposes of Determining Child and Spousal Support, Domestic Violence Restraining Orders, Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege and Its Application to Family Law Custody Cases, and Family Law Ethics and Professional Responsibility Rules.