A1 – Love & Marriage, Conservatorships & Dissolutions

Susannah (Shani) Braffman Amen is a partner at Elkins Kalt Weintraub Reuben Gartside, LLP. Ms. Amen obtained her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, cum laude. She then attended University of Pennsylvania for law school.

Ms. Amen is a Certified Family Law Specialist and highly accomplished family law advocate representing sophisticated clients in all types of cases, including dissolution of marriage, parentage, custody, post- judgment modifications, prenuptial agreements, and domestic violence restraining orders. She has extensive experience litigating difficult custody issues and high asset dissolution cases, among other family law matters.

Ms. Amen previously worked at other highly regarded boutique family law firms in the Los Angeles area. She was also a Judicial Intern for the Honorable Aviva K. Bobb in Los Angeles.

Ms. Amen teaches Community Property to upper level students at USC Gould Law School. In the community, Shani has volunteered at the Levitt Quinn Family Law Center, Harriett Buhai Center, and served five years on the Executive Board of the PTA of Lanai Road Elementary School, which is a National Blue Ribbon School. In addition, she interviews college applicants for the University of Pennsylvania as part of the university’s Alumni Interview Program.

The Honorable Mitchell L. Beckloff, Judge (Ret.) completed his undergraduate studies at UCLA, and then attended Loyola Law School where he received a dean’s academic merit full-tuition scholarship, nine American Jurisprudence Awards, and the Bancroft-Whitney Academic Achievement Award at graduation. He also served as a staff member and an editor of the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif, Alpha Sigma Nu, and the St. Thomas More Law Honor Society.

After a judicial career spanning more than two decades from 2007 to 2024 on the Los Angeles County Superior Court bench, Judge Beckloff joined Signature Resolution as a neutral. Through his varied assignments in nearly every division of the court, Judge Beckloff developed an exceptional reputation in the legal community as a skilled jurist in civil, probate and family law matters.

Judge Beckloff has had the privilege of presiding over numerous complex and notable cases, including entertainer Michael Jackson’s probate estate, Herbalife founder Mark Hughes’ trust, an environmental challenge to the plan for decommissioning San Onofre nuclear power plant, and a constitutional claim protesting Los Angeles County’s decision to return Bruce’s Beach in Manhattan Beach to the heirs of its original owners.

As a judicial officer, Judge Beckloff held various leadership roles within the Los Angeles County Superior Court. He presided over probate proceedings from 2007 to 2014 and served as the Probate Division’s Supervising Judge for five of those years. From 2014 to 2018, he presided over a general jurisdiction civil trial department and served as the Supervising Judge of the court’s West District during two of those years. In 2015, Judge Beckloff sat on a temporary assignment as a justice pro tem in Division Seven for the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District. Prior to his retirement in 2024, he served with distinction in a Writs and Receivers department, a position he held since 2018, litigating disputes concerning CEQA, land use, municipal affairs, election law, and provisional remedies.

Sarah S. Broomer is an equity partner at Ruttenberg Cutler Broomer, LLP. Ms. Broomer obtained her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkely, where she received the Arnold S. Nelson Scholarship for academic excellence from 2000-2004. She then attended Southwest Law School, where she received the Southwestern School of Law Scholarship for 2005-2007.

Ms. Broomer’s practice includes all aspects of complex conservatorship, fiduciary, and trust and estate litigation. Ms. Broomer also handles all aspects of estate planning, family succession planning, charitable giving, and insurance trusts. Ms. Broomer has repeatedly been recognized as a “Southern California Rising Star” in the area of Trust and Estates Litigation by Super Lawyers™, as well as one of the “Top Women Attorneys in Southern California” in Los Angeles magazine. Ms. Broomer is an update author for the CEB, including the following guidebooks: Trust Administration, Powers of Attorney, Irrevocable Trusts, Small & Midsize Estates, and Decedent Estate Practice, as well as the CEB manuals on Handling a Probate, and the Probate Workflow Manual.

Ms. Broomer is currently serving as Trustee of the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Ms. Broomer previously served as the Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Trust & Estates Executive Committee, and as Co-Chair of the Beverly Hills Bar Association Trust & Estates Executive Committee. Ms. Broomer is the Chair of the Lecture Series (formerly known as the LACBA Trust and Estates Lecture Series). Ms. Broomer received her B.A. degree from University of California, Berkeley, and her J.D. degree from Southwestern University School of Law. During law school, she served as Judicial Intern for the Honorable Aviva K. Bobb, the Presiding Judge of the Probate Court.

Judge Ana Maria Luna has served as a bench officer in the Los Angeles County since 1992. She holds undergraduate degrees in Biological Sciences and Spanish from the University of California, Irvine. She received her juris doctorate degree from the University of Southern California Gould Law School in 1984. Before joining the bench in 1992, Judge Luna practiced as a family law attorney and as a deputy public defender in Los Angeles County. Judge Luna has extensive experience in handling family law matters involving issues of child custody, support and property division. Since 2020, Judge Luna has handled a probate calendar where she manages estate, trust, guardianship and conservatorship cases including long cause trials. She has lectured to bar associations and professional organizations including best practices as to case management and evidentiary hearings.