Brian Seastrom

My practice focuses on complex, high-net-worth divorce and family law matters, both as an advocate in litigation and as a mediator. I work with business owners, executives, private equity professionals, and individuals whose financial situations make their divorces more complicated than most. The cases I handle typically involve multi-entity business structures, private equity fund positions with carried interest and waterfall distributions, real estate portfolios with 1031 exchange chains, sophisticated equity compensation arrangements, and substantial contested estates. I spend a lot of my time working with forensic accountants and business valuators on characterization disputes, valuation methodology, illiquidity considerations, and property division structures that account for tax consequences and other obligations, such as capital calls. I prepare every case for trial. Many of them settle, and they tend to settle well when both sides know the case has been built to go the distance. I also mediate statewide, in person or by video. Many of the matters I mediate carry the same level of financial complexity as my litigation cases. Mediation allows for creative structures that a court cannot order, such as deferred equalization notes, tax-optimized asset allocation, phased buyouts, and distributions tailored to the specific financial architecture involved. I find that clients who value privacy, speed, and control over their outcome are often well served by mediation, particularly when the mediator has tried enough of these cases to know what a court would actually do. Much of my practice comes through referrals from corporate counsel, CPAs, wealth advisors, and fellow attorneys. Credentials: Fellow, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) Fellow, International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) California Certified Family Law Specialist Past Chair, California State Bar Family Law Advisory Commission Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year,” Family Law Mediation Super Lawyers Top 5, Family Law, Southern California Super Lawyers Top 100, California Super Lawyers Top 50, Orange County Lawdragon Top 500 in the Nation AV Preeminent, Martindale-Hubbell Direct: 949.994.9251 Office: 949.474.0800 stmlaw.com