Legal Services & Lawyers

MS. O'NEILL obtained her Juris Doctorate from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 2003 and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of New Hampshire in 1999 where she holds a membership with the Phi Sigma Pi Honor Society. Prior to joining the firm as a law clerk in March of 2004, she was an intern with the Family Law Facilitator and a law clerk in a private firm specializing in family law. Ms. O'Neill volunteers with the San Diego Children's Reading Program, San Diego Teen Court Program, San Diego Volunteer Lawyers, AIDS Law Clinic, Children at Risk Teaching Program, FlexComm, and the Republican Party of San Diego. She is a member of the State Bar of California, San Diego County Bar Association and the Family Law section of the San Diego County Bar Association. Ms. O'Neill is fluent in Russian and conversational in French and German.

MS. SICKLER joined the firm in 1985 and is a supervising attorney with the firm. Ms. Sickler obtained her Juris Doctorate from Hastings College of the Law in 1976 and her Bachelor of Science from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1973. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Sickler was engaged in the general practice of law, including obtaining substantial civil and criminal trial experience. Ms. Sickler was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1976 and became a Certified Specialist in Family Law in 1991. She is a member of the San Diego County Bar Association, the Family Law Section of the San Diego County Bar Association and the San Diego Certified Family Law Specialists. Ms. Sickler also serves as a Judge Pro Tem for the San Diego Superior Court Family Law Division.

The youngest of four children, Beatrice Larsson Snider came to the United States from Sweden with her family at the age of 10. The family first lived in Berkeley, California then moved to Westchester County, New York where she graduated from high school in 1967. Certain characteristics separated her from the other teens of her day and her natural instinct to protect the underdog and speak up for her beliefs forecasted her eventual career in law.

Ms. Snider was offered a scholarship as an undergraduate to California Western University in San Diego, California. Halfway through her undergraduate degree in pre-medical studies, her influential philosophy professor encouraged her to study law and set her on her path and pursuit of justice. After completing her undergraduate program in two and a half years, she received a scholarship to California Western School of Law. One of eight women in a class of 423 she graduated in 1973 with a Juris Doctorate.

In 1974 Ms. Snider opened a small office in University City practicing personal injury, criminal defense, civil and family law. During this period, Ms. Snider was one of the first attorneys to file a separate lawsuit against a spouse for assault and battery. The settlement was small but a precedent was set.

In the 1970's, the Clerks and Librarians filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego alleging discriminatory pay practices. Ms. Snider, who was then chapter counsel for National Organization Women, was on the panel of attorneys offering their services to the librarians and clerks who were paid less than their counterparts who had equal or less education and experience. A settlement was reached, one of the first cases to recognize and implement the concept of equal pay for equal work under the Civil Rights Act.

By the mid 70's, the Family Law Act of 1970 had created a seismic shift in family law creating the need for highly skilled lawyers. This fact, coupled with her desire to help clients in need, solidified her decision to specialize in Family Law.

In 1980, Ms. Snider was one of twelve in the first class of attorneys to be board certified as a Certified Family Law Specialist in the State of California. Ms. Snider is a member of the San Diego County Bar Association, the Family Law Section of the San Diego County Bar Association and the San Diego Certified Family Law Specialists. Ms. Snider also serves as a Judge Pro Tem for the San Diego Superior Court Family Law Division, has written various articles and conducted speaking engagements on Family Law and Business Valuations in Divorce. She is also a Certified Mediator and trained in the Collaborative Divorce™ process.

As part on her involvement in the San Diego Certified Family Law Specialists, Ms. Snider chaired the subcommittee that promulgated the San Diego Local Rules for business valuations in dissolution actions that have now become part of Superior Court Rules.

While Ms. Snider has built the largest Family Law firm south of Los Angeles, she credits the firm's success to her clients and the experienced, dynamic, caring team of lawyers and paralegals who share her vision of bringing order to the chaos of a family going through crisis.

Michele B. Brown is an attorney licensed in the State of California and the United States District Court for the Southern District. She is a Certified Specialist in Family Law and handles complex dissolution of marriage actions, nullity, pre-marital and post-marital agreements, high conflict custody cases, income analysis and business valuations. Ms. Brown cares deeply about the law and her clients. It is for this reason Ms. Brown is actively involved in family law legislation and politics.


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Selected as one of San Diego County's Top Attorneys for 2007, Michele B. Brown is a Supervising and Trial Attorney with the Law Offices of Beatrice L. Snider, APC. The practice is limited exclusively to family law matters. Ms. Brown specializes in complex family law matters, including dissolution of marriage actions with business valuations, income analysis and financial litigation, custody, move-away and psychological evaluations, as well as pre-marital agreements, post-marital agreements, post judgment matters and enforcement actions.




Ms. Brown obtained her Juris Doctorate from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1994, where she received the 1994 Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, with a Minor in Spanish, from the University of California, Riverside in 1989, and as a Rotary International Scholar, she studied Politics and French at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia



Ms. Brown was admitted to the State Bar of California and the Federal District Court for the Southern District in 1994 and she became a Certified Specialist in Family Law in 2002. She is the Affirmative Legislation Chair of the Executive Committee of the State Bar of California, Family Law Section; she is an elected member of Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the State; she is the Family Law Legislation Chair for the San Diego County Certified Family Law Specialists; and an elected member of the Executive Committee of the San Diego County Certified Family Law Specialists.




Ms. Brown is a member of the San Diego County Bar Association, the Family Law Section of the San Diego County Bar Association, and the Family Law Section of the State Bar of California. She co-chaired the Spring 2007 Family Law Seminar on Psychological Issues and has spoken at several seminars on family law matters, including jurisdictional issues and case and statutory updates in the law. Ms. Brown has written articles for the Certified Family Law Specialists Newsletter, acted as the Family Law Floor leader for the San Diego County Bar Association Conference of Delegates, where she authored several proposed Family Law bills. She has volunteered as an attorney for the Family Law Facilitator's Office, is a volunteer family law attorney for the annual KNSD Ask-A-Lawyer program and serves as a Judge Pro Tem for the San Diego Superior Court Family Law Division. Ms. Brown is fluent in Spanish and conversant in French.





Personal Data:


I live in the North Park area of San Diego. Traveling, politics and spending time with my family and friends are my passions outside the practice of law, whether it’s spelunking in Iceland, bungee jumping in New Zealand, scuba diving in Australia or hiking through the John Muir wilderness. My passion for politics has had me working on Capital Hill in D.C., serving on numerous committees and working on campaigns.