VerifiedLawFirms editorial: Focus and practice areas — This is a family law firm based in San Diego, California, and it keeps its practice to that one field. The website states the limit plainly.
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About Wilkinson & Finkbeiner
Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP is a family law firm based in San Diego, California, that limits its practice to family law matters. According to the firm, it began in 2005 and has since opened additional offices in Los Angeles and Fullerton, in Orange County. Its main San Diego office is located in the Old Town area, and the firm also lists a Solana Beach location.
The firm handles divorce, child custody and visitation, child support, spousal support and alimony, division of marital property, and post-divorce modifications. It also assists with prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, paternity, step-parent adoptions, annulments, guardianships, domestic partnerships, and matters involving domestic violence and protective orders. The firm states that it works through both negotiation and litigation and handles high-conflict, high-asset, and complex cases.
The firm's attorneys are certified in family law (CFLS) and fellows of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML). The team includes two co-founders, partners, associate attorneys, and paralegal staff.
Editor's Review
VerifiedLawFirms editorial
Focus and practice areas
This is a family law firm based in San Diego, California, and it keeps its practice to that one field. The website states the limit plainly. Every matter the team takes on falls under family law, and nothing on the site suggests work outside it.
The core of the practice covers divorce, child custody and visitation, and child support. It also includes spousal support and alimony, division of marital property, and modifications after a judgment is final. That range covers most of what a separating family in California has to sort out.
Beyond the common filings, the firm assists with prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, paternity, and step-parent adoptions. Its stated work also reaches annulments, guardianships, domestic partnerships, and matters involving domestic violence and protective orders. In my opinion, a practice that stays inside a single field tends to know its rules well, and this list reads that way.
Where the firm reaches
According to the firm, it began in 2005. Since then it has opened offices beyond its home city. The main office sits in the Old Town area of San Diego.
The firm also lists a presence in Los Angeles and in Fullerton, within Orange County, along with a Solana Beach location. That spread lets it meet clients across a wide part of Southern California. For a family law matter, an office closer to home can make court dates and meetings easier to keep.
Why the reach matters in family law
Family cases are filed in the county where the parties live, and hearings can run over months. A firm with several offices can stay near the right courthouse without asking a client to travel far. The listed locations put the team within reach of San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles courts.
How the team is built
The firm carries the names of its two co-founders, David K. Wilkinson and Scott H. Finkbeiner. Around them sits a defined structure of partners and associates. The site names three partners: Hannah J. Engholm, Julia Schneider, and Benjamin Yip.
The associate attorneys are Nuha Alomar, Kristin Carbone, Carly Garcia, and Karen Fiumara. Paralegal staff support the lawyers on file work and client contact. As a reviewer, I read a named roster like this as a sign that a firm is comfortable showing who does the work.
Nine named attorneys is a fair number for a practice limited to one field. It suggests the firm can spread cases across several hands rather than routing everything through one desk. A client can also see, up front, the person likely to handle a given file.
Credentials behind the practice
The firm states that its attorneys hold the CFLS credential in family law, an accredited certification, which is granted through the State Bar of California. It also says they are fellows of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, or AAML. Both markers point to a focus on family law rather than a general practice.
The CFLS certification is not automatic in California. It calls for added testing, peer review, and a set amount of family law experience. That the firm points to it for its attorneys tells a client something concrete about the training behind each file.
How cases are handled
The firm says it works through both negotiation and litigation. That means it can try to settle a matter by agreement, or carry it into court when agreement fails. Many family disputes shift between those two modes, so keeping both open is practical.
It also states that it takes high-conflict, high-asset, and complex cases. Those are the matters where custody, property, and support questions tangle together and rarely settle on the first pass. In my opinion, naming that kind of work sets a clear expectation for the clients who need it.
What that means for a client
A family case can start calm and turn contested, or the reverse. A firm that handles both settlement and trial does not have to hand the file elsewhere if the temperature changes. The stated approach keeps one team on the matter from the first meeting through a final order.
What a prospective client can check
The firm keeps a presence on Facebook and LinkedIn, both linked from its own site. Those pages give a reader another way to see how the firm presents itself and its people. For a family law decision, it helps to read a firm's own words alongside an outside listing like this one.
The picture that comes through is a single-field practice with a settled structure and stated credentials. It handles the full run of family law matters, from divorce and custody through prenuptial agreements and step-parent adoptions. A reader weighing options in San Diego, Orange County, or Los Angeles can start from these facts and take the next step from there.
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BYBenjamin YipPartner
He is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego and Loyola Law School, and after law school he worked at an international law firm on large class-action defense cases. He has practiced family law exclusively for the last 10 years, focusing on high asset and complex marital estates, and has handled divorce, paternity, custody, and move-away cases.
Practice focus
Family law
Divorce
Paternity
Child custody
Move-away cases
High-asset and complex marital estates
Carly GarciaAssociate Attorney
Carly Garcia is an Associate Attorney at Wilkinson & Finkbeiner in San Diego. She received a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies from The University of La Verne in 2021 and earned her law degree from California Western School of Law in 2024, where she served as a Senior Editor for the school's International Law Journal. She joined the firm in 2024 as a legal extern through California Western's clinical externship program and assists clients with dissolution matters including custody, visitation, and support.
Practice focus
Family law
Divorce (dissolution)
Child custody and visitation
Child support
DKDavid K. WilkinsonCo-Founder
David K. Wilkinson is a co-founder of Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, where he practices family law and handles matters ranging from negotiation and preparation of pleadings to complex litigation. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Washington and a Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law. He has served as a Judge Pro Tem in San Diego and currently manages the firm's Massachusetts offices.
Practice focus
Family law
Divorce
Child custody and visitation
Child support
Property division
Spousal support
Hannah J. EngholmPartner
Hannah J. Engholm is a partner at Wilkinson & Finkbeiner in San Diego, California, and has practiced family law with the firm since 2013. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and simultaneously completed a Juris Doctor at California Western School of Law and a Master of Social Work at San Diego State University. Her practice covers divorce, nullity of marriage, child custody and visitation, move-away requests, child support, spousal support, and step-parent adoptions, and she has served as minor's counsel in family law custody disputes.
Practice focus
Divorce
Child custody and visitation
Child support
Spousal support
Property division
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements
Julia SchneiderPartner
Julia Schneider received a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of Kansas and a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies from the University of California San Diego. She earned her J.D. from California Western School of Law, where she served as an editor of the California Western Law Review and graduated magna cum laude. She joined Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP in January 2014 as a certified legal intern, later becoming a law clerk and then an associate attorney at the firm. She handles all areas of family law, including dissolution of marriage, child custody and visitation, child and spousal support, prenuptial agreements, and domestic violence restraining orders.
Practice focus
Family Law
Divorce
Domestic Violence
Child Custody
Child Support
Spousal Support
Karen FiumaraAssociate Attorney
Karen Fiumara is an Associate Attorney at Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP, a family law firm serving San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles. The firm handles family law matters such as divorce, child custody, child support, and spousal support.
Practice focus
Family Law
Kristin CarboneAssociate Attorney
Kristin Carbone is an Associate Attorney at Wilkinson & Finkbeiner in San Diego, where she joined in 2022 with over 13 years of family law experience. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from San Diego State University and a Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law. Before joining the firm, she worked at family law firms in San Diego and Boston. She handles family law matters, including divorce, child custody, child support, and spousal support.
Practice focus
Family law
Divorce
Child custody
Child support
Spousal support
Nuha AlomarAssociate Attorney
Nuha A. Alomar is an attorney with Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP. She received her law degree from Chapman University School of Law. Her practice focuses on family law matters.
Practice focus
Family Law
Scott H. FinkbeinerCo-Founder
Scott H. Finkbeiner is a co-founder of Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP, a family law firm based in San Diego, California. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from the University of Arizona and earned his law degree from California Western School of Law. His practice covers family law matters including divorce, child custody, child support, spousal support, paternity, and the division of high-asset and complex marital estates. He also serves as a judge pro tem, settlement judge, and mediator for the Superior Court and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
Practice focus
Divorce
Child Custody
Child Support
Spousal Support
Property Division
Paternity
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