Richard A. Lewis, J.D., established his legal practice in Lake View Terrace
in 1990, after previously serving as an associate attorney in the Law Offices of
Samuel L. Hart. He later moved his practice to Woodland Hills. Admitted to the California State Bar and the United States
District Court for the Central District of California, Mr. Lewis currently
represents clients in the areas of Family Law, Probate, Estate Planning,
Conservatorships and Guardianships. He has frequently negotiated and drafted
settlement agreements and stipulated judgments in family law matters as well
as represented clients in contested court trials and proceedings. He also has
drafted appellate briefs and has appeared numerous times before the appellate
court in various litigation matters.
In non-litigation areas, Mr. Lewis has extensive experience in representing
clients in probate estate and conservatorship proceedings. Mr. Lewis also has extensive experience in drafting both revocable and
irrevocable trust agreements, wills, general durable powers of attorney and
powers of attorney for health care, and has conducted numerous seminars on the
Living Trust and family law issues for the general public.
Mr. Lewis is a past President of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association, as well as a
Director of the Valley Community
Legal Foundation. He is currently on the Board of Trustees for the Los Angeles
County Bar Association. In addition, Mr. Lewis is a
past Director of San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc., a legal
services organization funded by the Federal Legal Services Corporation, which
provides legal services to low-income persons; and a past member of the Legal
Services Managing Committee of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, a legal services
organization located in West Los Angeles. Mr. Lewis is also a member of the
executive committee of the Family Law Section of the San Fernando Valley Bar
Association.
Mr. Lewis is a member of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association Lawyer Referral
and Information Service and is a past co-chair of the managing committee for the Referral
Service. He is also on the panels for
Family Law and Probate. He is Chair of the Diversity Committee
of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association and serves on the
Diversity Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
He is the Representative of the San Fernando Valley Bar
Association to the Multi-Cultural Bar Alliance. Mr. Lewis also
serves on the various modest means panels of the San Fernando
Valley Bar Associations Lawyer Referral and Information
Service-panels devoted to providing low-cost legal services to
low income modest means individuals. He also serves on the
Limited Representation Panel.
Mr. Lewis is a family law mediator in the Van Nuys Court and has served as a Judge Pro
Tem in the Van Nuys Court and San Fernando Court.
Mr. Lewis was admitted to the California State Bar and the United States
District Court for the Central District of California in 1988, after receiving
his Juris Doctorate degree from Southwestern University School of Law. While
attending Southwestern, he was honored as the recipient of an Exceptional
Achievement Award and as an alternate finalist in the Second Year Moot Court
competition. Since he began practicing law, Mr. Lewis has continued to update
and enlarge his legal education and knowledge through seminar courses in various
specialties, and through other programs presented by the Los Angeles County Bar
Association and the San Fernando Valley Bar Association.
Prior to embarking on his legal career, Mr. Lewis was a lending officer and
operations supervisor with Security Pacific National Bank, and a respected
school teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, as well as a reserve
officer in the United States Army Reserves and the California National Guard. A
veteran of the war in Viet Nam, he has traveled widely since his military
service, traveling on four continents as well as in the islands of the
Caribbean and the South Pacific. He is a tennis and chess enthusiast and an avid
jazz fan. He and his wife, Julie, and their son, Matthew, reside in Granada
Hills.
