Summary:  Zelikha (pronounced za-LAY-ha) has exclusively practiced family law since earning her law degree in 2015. During law school, she decided to focus on family law due to her concern for the rights of parents and children in high-conflict family relationships and financial disputes. Now in her seventh year of law practice, Zelikha combines her exceptionally diverse academic background with her competitive approach to winning cases and her compassion for spouses, parents, and children facing difficult situations. Although she excels in courtroom advocacy and has won dozens of complex trials and evidentiary hearings, she works hard to settle her cases early, in the belief that family disputes should generally be resolved without court involvement and the time and expense of litigation.

Zelikha has successfully resolved high-conflict divorce, child custody, child support, spousal support, business valuation, and restraining order cases. Her most notable cases include:

• International and domestic child custody move-aways involving newborns, children, and adolescents and complex visitation arrangements;

• Characterization and valuation of businesses in the fields of corporate staffing, health care, professional services, and technology;

• Child support and spousal support cases involving senior corporate executives, technology entrepreneurs, and high-net-worth individuals;

• Coordination of divorce with complex estate planning and tax considerations, utilizing outside experts in the fields of forensic accounting, trust planning, and taxation;

• Mediation and private judging on behalf of high-profile clients in the corporate and technology fields;

• Characterization and division of restricted stock units and other forms of stock options and equity compensation;

• Interpretation and enforcement of foreign and domestic prenuptial agreements with respect to separate and community property division and spousal support;

• Restraining order cases involving allegations of domestic violence and abuse, parental misconduct, and substance abuse.

A Bay Area native, Zelikha worked as a teacher in the San Mateo and Sequoia Union High School Districts before law school. Although she found teaching to be rewarding, she decided to pursue law so she could focus on the needs of families in conflict. A talented negotiator who has completed several innovative mediation and conflict resolution programs, she uses her settlement skills to resolve cases at the early stages, reducing conflict and protecting important family relationships.

Zelikha is licensed to practice law in California and is a member of the California Young Lawyers Association. During law school, she received the Witkin and CALI Award in Community Property, as well as a CALI Award in Family Law. She was also a member of the Honors Lawyering Program in law school.

Zelikha earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of California, Davis and both a Master’s degree in Education and a Teaching Credential from the University of California, Santa Cruz. In the fall of 2013, she clerked for Judge Michael I. Begert at the Unified Family Court in San Francisco. Zelikha received her Juris Doctorate with Honors and a Family Law Specialization Certificate from Golden Gate University School of Law in 2015.

Bar Membership:  State Bar of California, 2015.

Education:  Juris Doctor, Golden Gate University, 2015; Master’s in Education and Teaching Credential, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2009; Bachelor of Science, University of California, Davis, 2008.