Peter M. Walzer
Top rated Family Law attorney in Woodland Hills, California
Walzer Melcher & Yoda LLP
Practice Areas: Family Law; view more
Licensed in California since: 1981
Education: Southwestern Law School
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2005 - 2025 Call today:
818-591-3700
Walzer Melcher & Yoda LLP
5941 Variel AvenueWoodland Hills, CA 91367 Visit website
Details
Peter M. Walzer is the founding partner of the Southern California law firm Walzer Melcher LLP, a practice focused exclusively on family law with offices in Woodland Hills.
Peter handles multifaceted and contentious divorce cases. He skillfully negotiates marital agreements. His cases involve people with “out of the ordinary” personal and financial issues. Many of the matters that he handles involve cases where one of the parties lives in another state or country.
His clients include entertainers, business owners, inventors, entrepreneurs, real estate investors, athletes, and financiers.
Peter is an extraordinary leader. He served as president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (2018-2019), an organization consisting of 1650 preeminent family lawyers in the United States. He is the past chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Family Law Section, a past president of the Southern California Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and former chair of the executive committee of the State Bar Family Law Section.
Peter is the leading expert in his field. Peter has been a Certified Family Law Specialist for 34 years and is a former president of the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists. He is a former member of the Council of the American Bar Association Family Law Section.
Peter is a trailblazer. He was a member of the Elkins Family Law Task Force, a statewide panel which improved the efficiency and fairness of family law proceedings by recommending changes to legislation and court rules.
Peter sets a standard of excellence. Peter was named Family Law Person of the Year in 2009 by the Southern California Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and Fellow of the Year by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers in 2010. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America and is AV rated by Martindale-Hubble. Peter received the Southwestern Law School Max A. Goodman Family Law Legacy Award on June 10, 2017. Chambers and Partners named him a “Leader in Their Field” and ranked him in Band 1 for their 2018-2021 High Net Worth Guide for Family Law.
Peter’s articles have been featured in various publications, including Los Angeles Lawyer, ABA Family Advocate, California Lawyer, LACBA News and Review, and State Bar Family Law Section Family Law News. He lectures regularly for the State Bar, UCLA, CEB, ACFLS, AAML, and various other organizations.
Practice areas
Family LawFocus areas
Alimony & Spousal Support, Child Support, Custody & Visitation, Dissolution, Divorce, Domestic Violence, Marital Property, Prenuptial Agreements, Same Sex Family Law
- 100% Family Law
First Admitted: 1981, California
Professional Webpage: https://walzermelcher.com/portfolio/peter-m-walzer-celebrity...
- Vice-President, U.S. Chapter, International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 2010-2012
- Fellow, International Academy of Family Lawyers
- Appointed in 2008 to the Elkins Family Law Task Force
- President, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 2018-2019
- Peter is the President-Elect of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 2017-2018
- Immediate past chair of the Los Angeles Bar Association Family Law Section, vice president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Board of Directors, Southern California Chapter, AAML, Chapter Leaders Committee Co-Chair, AAML, Council, Family Law Section of the American Bar Association, Continuing Legal Education Committee, ABA Family Law Section, Former Chair of State Bar of California Family Law Section, Former President Southern California Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Former President of the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists
- Certified Family Law Specialist, State Bar of California Office of Specialization, 1988
- Peter was named Fellow of the Year by American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers in 2010, Fellow of the Year, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 2010
- Peter M. Walzer has been selected as a Best Lawyer in America® for 2007 through present, Best Lawyers® website, Best Lawyers in America, 2008
- Peter received the Southwestern Law School Max A. Goodman Family Law Legacy Award on June 10, 2017, Max A. Goodman Family Law Legacy Award Recipient, Southwestern Law School, 2017
- Peter M. Walzer was awarded the Person of the Year Award by the So Cal Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers for 2009. Affectionately called the “Normie,” after Norman M. Dolin, a former AAML president, who served the legal community unselfishly and at the same time represented his clients faithfully, the award is given to someone who has made an outstanding contribution to family law. Peter was also named Fellow of the Year by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers for 2010. Peter received the Southwestern Law School Max Goodman Family Law Legacy Award on June 17, 2017, Person of the Year, Southern Cal Chapter American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 2009
- He was named to Chambers & Partners in 2018 in Tier 1 for their individually ranked attorneys, Top Attorney in Their Field, Chambers and Partners, 2018
- FairShare The Matrimonial Law Monthly, Author
- IAML Online News, “What Every Lawyer Want to Know About Prenups, But Was Afraid to Ask (an American)”, Issue 23, April 2013, Author, International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
- 2011 Winter publication of Family Advocate, Author
- California Lawyer, Volume 11, No. 12, Author
- Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, “Wealth, Fame and Fortune: Navigating the Treacherous Waters of High Stakes Family Law Litigation”, Volume 26, No. 2, co-authored with Anthony D. Storm and Autumn Miley-Boland, 2014, Author, Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
- ABA Section of Family Law, “Premarital Agreements for Seniors”, co-authored with Jennifer M. Riemer, Family Law Quarterly, Volume 50, No. 1, Spring 2016, Author, ABA - Family Law Quarterly
- Family Law Advocate, “Premarital Agreements for Seniors”, Winter 2017, Author, Premarital Agreements for Seniors, Family Law Advocate
- Pennsylvania Family Law, “The Tax Deductibility of Attorneys’ Fees in a Marital Dissolution”, June 2017, Author, The Tax Deductibility of Attorneys’ Fees in a Marital Dissolution, Pennsylvania Family Law
- California CPA, “Apportionment: Calculating Community Interest in Separate Property", October 2017, Author, Apportionment: Calculating Community Interest in Separate Property, California CPA
- LACBA Los Angeles Lawyer, “New Federal Law Eliminates the Alimony Deduction”, June 2018, Author, New Federal Law Eliminates the Alimony Deduction, LACBA Los Angeles Lawyer
- Claws and Effect: Searching Out an Enforceable Prenup, Peter M. Walzer and Bruce Cooperman, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Southern California Chapter, Balboa Bay Club, February 9, 2013
- Cool Evidentiary Tools for Savvy Lawyers, Peter M. Walzer and Judge Mark Juhas, ACFLS 2013 Spring Seminar, Rancho Mirage, CA, March 24, 2013, Lecturer
- You Can't Always Get What You Want, Peter M. Walzer, Chair, LACBA, Family Law Section Symposium, Hilton Universal City, April 27, 2013, Lecturer
- Annual Symposium, Full Metal Jacket: Making Your Premarital Agreement Bullet Proof, Peter M. Walzer, Brigeda Bank, and Stephen J. Wagner, Auberte du Soleil, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Northern California Chapter, Napa, May 31, 2013, Lecturer
- Enforcing Foreign Premarital Agreements and Regimes in California: While California courts have never ruled directly on the enforceability of foreign prenuptial agreements, the threshold for enforcement is likely to be high, Author, Peter M. Walzer, Foreign Affairs, Los Angeles Lawyer, 2008
- Peter M. Walzer and Christopher C. Melcher presented a 4 hour program on drafting and litigating pre and postmarital agreements on February 20, 2010, Peter M. Walzer, Lecturer, Drafting and Litigating Premarital and Postmarital Agreements, UCLA Extension
- Peter M. Walzer was appointed to serve on the Elkins Family Law Task Force, a new statewide panel whose charge is to propose measures to improve efficiency and fairness in family law proceedings and ensure access to justice for family law litigants. This task force was recommended by the California Supreme Court in Elkins v. Super. Ct. (Elkins) (2007) 41 Cal.4th 1337, 63 Cal.Rptr.3d 483, 163 P.3d 160. The court reviewed local rules that limited a litigant's right to oral testimony in a family law trial. The court stated [F]amily law litigants should not be subjected to second-class status or deprived of access to justice . . . The same judicial resources and safeguards should be committed to a family law trial as are committed to other civil proceedings, 2008
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2005 - 2025
Top Lists
Top 100: Southern California Super Lawyers: 2005 - 2006, 2010 - 2011, 2015, 2019 - 2025- Top 100: 2025 Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2024 Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2023 Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2022 Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2021 Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2020 Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2019 Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2015 Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2011 Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2010 Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2006 Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2005 Southern California Super Lawyers
