Advocate Virginia Michelle Lively

Virginia Lively joined Lonich Patton Ehrlich Policastri in 2016, and has practiced family law exclusively since 2012. Her work with clients throughout the Bay Area has demonstrated her expertise in divorce, domestic violence, and spousal and child support as well as tax planning and litigation.Ms. Lively’s knowledge of corporations and family law isn’t exclusive from one to another. Her application of corporate structures to family law have been the lynchpin in judgements in favor of her clients, revealing connections that other attorneys have missed and winning million-dollar cases. Applying taxation to family law, Ms. Lively takes ownership of the courtroom where she shows the ability to connect concepts in community property to tax ramifications, providing expert witnesses the context to testify to her client’s benefit. All this in her first year of practice.Ms. Lively works in-depth with each and every client, crafting unique strategies both in and out of the courtroom. She makes it a point to pick the most cost-effective approach with clients, choosing to shrewdly negotiate when possible.After graduating Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Arizona, Ms. Lively pursued a Juris Doctorate at Santa Clara University. While studying there, she clerked at the Superior Court of California in Santa Cruz and then for the Hon. Judge Arthur Weissbrodt at the United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California. While at Santa Clara University, her interest in taxation and family law was piqued via the Tax and Estate Planning Society and Phi Alpha Delta. Ms. Lively graduated in 2011 and received the CALI Award for Future Excellence in Tax Policy. To continue and expand that passion, she attended the University of Florida’s Fredric G. Levin College of Law for an LL.M. in Taxation where she focused on estate tax planning and the federal taxation of trusts and estates with a special study in the taxation of corporations and partnerships.Ms. Lively’s passion for family law allows her to negotiate the best possible outcome, and enables her to litigate when negotiations fail to achieve her intended results. From depositions to hearings to full courtroom proceedings, her expertise is matched only by her attention to detail and organization, both of which bolster her commitment to excellence in the field of family law and estate planning.