Mary Ellen Waller

Mary Ellen Waller is a director, shareholder, and the general counsel of Feinberg & Waller, A Professional Corporation. Her focus is on the management of Feinberg & Waller, a law firm practicing exclusively in matrimonial law with offices located in Calabasas and Beverly Hills, California. Ms. Waller has helped lead the firm to become one of Southern California’s premier matrimonial law firms, serving clients in all aspects of family and divorce law, including complex matrimonial litigation. Her role as general counsel supports the firms associate attorneys and her three business partners who are certified family law specialists. Clients receive increased value; they are not charged for the legal and business expertise that she brings to the firm.

She was drawn to the law out of a deep moral sense of social justice and a devotion to the welfare of others. This sentiment is rooted in her personal values and sense of obligation. Under her direction, the firm works towards a mission of continual education dissemination in the family law field, public policy advocacy for streamlining the procedural process governing dissolutions, heightened awareness for the Family Law Bar to always practice with the best interest of the children in mind, and equal civil rights for all regardless of culture, race, sex, religion, nationality, or sexual orientation. Feinberg & Waller continues to mentor, and support students interested in the law including the establishment of the annual, Feinberg & Waller Leadership/Mentorship Award through the Constitutional Rights Foundation, (the award preferences minority high school students). She has spearheaded the building of Feinberg & Waller’s vast family law resources for low-income families.

Further examples of the history of Ms. Waller’s volunteer efforts, outside her substantive practice area, are many hours carrying out public advocacy on a wide range of difficult issues. Those efforts include the following: lobbying extensively for the cleanup of the Santa Susanna Field Laboratory due to environmental justice concerns over radiological risk to local communities; a track record of more than a decade advocating for equal civil rights for the LGBTQIA community; advocating for stringent scrutiny and accountability for sexual abuse of victims within the Catholic church; holding the City of Calabasas accountable for responsible leadership in the land use context to foster both orderly development and environmental quality; leading a call for COVID-19 safety compliance within the California Courthouses to safeguard the well-being of the public. This commitment to the community has enhanced her legal abilities, enabling her to hone, critical thinking, advocacy, performance and problem-solving skills.

Ms. Waller provides decisive support to Feinberg & Waller in numerous areas including finance, information technology, human resources, media services, marketing, general services, real property operations, development of strategic consultancies, as well as corporate governance and business policy. Ms. Waller is the supervising editor of Feinberg & Waller’s family law blog. She has a sophisticated knowledge of the full spectrum of digital topics from online metrics to social media and mobile marketing. The digital revolution, synchronization, and communication distribution continue to be areas of interest, exploration, and creative development for Ms. Waller.

Ms. Waller is also an active member of several community organizations including the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Charities, National Charity League, Inc., Pierce Community College, The Cowboy Lawyers Association, Ahmanson Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Pepperdine Friends of the Theatre, and ARTSReach at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts. She has served on numerous committees and has received several community service awards. Ms. Waller is admitted to practice law in both New York and California.