Jay Devitt, Attorney at Law

James ("Jay") Devitt has been practicing family law in Southern California for almost 17 years. During this time, he has handled hundreds of divorce and custody disputes and has acquired an intimate knowledge of family law issues.  Jay has never lost a divorce or custody case and has been awarded over $100,000 in monetary sanctions against other attorneys and parties.  He attended Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, CA, where he made the Dean's List, the Honor Roll, and was also published in Law Review.  Jay passed the California Bar exam on his first attempt after "clerking" his way through law school working for several prestigious law firms.

Jay was then hired by a 70 attorney law firm where he met his wife and future law partner, Kimberly Chelberg.  After 3 years of extensive training by one of the partners, Devitt & Chelberg formed their own law firm which they have now owned for 14 years.  During this time, they have handled family law cases in downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Van Nuys, and the surrounding areas, and they often attend dinners and lectures by family law Judges and other respected members of the legal community.

Jay has handled some of the largest divorce cases in Los Angeles history and has been personally responsible for the division of over 50 million dollars in assets.  He knows which forensic accountants can be counted on to give the most credible testimony in court and is quite familiar with child custody evaluators and psychologists in Los Angeles.  However, he still handles simple divorce issues and will be happy to prosecute or defend restraining order or modifications of judgments as well as paternity actions.  By using his DISSOMASTER program, Jay can calculate your child support and alimony so you will know how much you are expected to receive or likely have to pay.  Many times he will be able to negotiate a "buy out" of the alimony in the case so that a party does not have to wait years to receive their alimony, or if paying alimony, to get a discount. 

Jay has two children and knows how important custody and visitation is to a parent.  He will counsel parents so that they are able to put their best foot forward when the time comes to meet with court ordered evaluators or to testify in front of a Judge at trial.  He also may be able to suggest certain classes that a parent can take to help their parenting skills and achieve their goals of either full custody, joint custody, or expanded visitation. 

Jay has served as a Judge Pro Tem in the Van Nuys court and has also been retained as a mediator in divorce cases.