Alison Spirito

Alison Spirito


McGaughey & Spirito

Recognized since 2024

Redondo Beach, California

Practice Areas

Family Law

Family Law: Arbitration and Mediation

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Born in Los Angeles, California, Alison graduated from the University of Southern California in 2013 with B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Law and minor in Spanish (Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude). She earned her J.D. from USC Gould School of Law in 2017.

Experience

Alison, through mediation and collaboration, assists clients in resolving high conflict and complex divorces. A significant part of her practice also involves divorces where clients would like assistance preparing and processing all required court paperwork in a cost-conscious way, with few issues in dispute.

She enjoys working with clients, learning about their children and financial goals, and counseling them on their options so they can make informed decisions that are right for them.

Alison is an MC3-certified mediator, which is the premier standard for mediator certification. This certification requires at least 80 hours of mediation-specific training, 50 hours of experience, and compliance with ethical standards. Learn more about the MC3-certification process here.

She has been selected to the 2023 and 2024 Southern California Rising Stars list for the practice area of family law. This is an exclusive list, recognizing no more than 2.5% of attorneys in California each year. Alison was also selected for inclusion in the 2024 and 2025 editions of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in the practice areas of Family Law and Family Law: Arbitration and Mediation.

Alison is an executive committee member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA)’s Family Law Section, one of the largest family law bar associations in the United States, where she serves as Chair of the Membership Subcommittee.

She is also a member of A Better Divorce, a select group of attorneys, financial professionals, and mental health professionals committed to resolving family law matters without court.

Alison works in the South Bay, serving clients throughout Los Angeles County, and virtually throughout California.

She also lives in the South Bay with her husband, son, and Samoyed.

Mediation and Collaborative Training
  • Mosten/Guthrie 40-hour Divorce and Family Mediation Training.
  • Mosten/Guthrie 12-hour Advanced Mediation Training.
  • Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association Basic Interdisciplinary Three-Day Collaborative Practice Training.
Community
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association, Executive Committee for Family Law Section (2021-current).
  • South Bay Bar Association, Board Member and Co-Chair of Family Law Section (2021-2024).
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association, Executive Committee for Barristers/Young Attorneys Section (2019-2021).
  • University of Southern California, Executive Committee for Young Alumni Council (2018-2020).
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association, Volunteer Attorney for Domestic Violence Legal Services Project (2017- 2020).
  • Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Judicial Extern serving the Honorable B. Scott Silverman in family court (2016).
Select Speaking Engagements and Publications
  • Guest Lecturer - Loyola Law School’s Marital Property class, presentation on divorce options including mediation, collaborative divorce, and litigation, and the roles of different professionals in the divorce process. November 2022.
  • Moderated South Bay Bar Association webinar, "Professional Visitation Monitoring: Best Practices and Strategies for Hiring Visitation Monitors and Drafting Orders," November 2022
  • Guest on the insightful Divorce Conversations For Women podcast hosted by Rhonda Noordyk. In the episode, Alison discusses what you need to know about the mediation process. Listen to the podcast here. March 2022
  • Appeared as the featured guest to discuss the divorce mediation process on Moms Moving On podcast hosted by Michelle Dempsey-Multack. Listen to the podcast here. December 2020
  • Presented on the topic of “Marketing to Millennials” to various organizations, including collaborative divorce group, A Better Divorce, on January 9, 2020 and July 9, 2020, South Bay Study Group hosted by the accounting firm White Zuckerman Warsovsky, Luna & Hunt on September 14, 2020, and LACBA Study Group hosted by David Yamamoto, past Chair of LACBA’s Family Law Section, on February 4, 2021.
  • Speaker for Virtual Legal Career Boot Camp presented by AltaClaro and Leg Up Legal, Family Law Career Panel, July 23, 2020.
  • Speaker on statewide panel hosted by Collaborative Divorce Solutions Orange County, “Practice Tips for Collaborators during Covid and into the Millennial Future”, June 18, 2020.
  • Authored an article titled "The Rise of Parentage Cases and Collaborative Co-Parenting", published on the Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association’s blog, June 10, 2020.
  • Authored an article titled "The ‘Collaboration Generation’ Will Make Good Family Lawyers", published in Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine, January 2020 edition.
  • Authored an article titled "The Collaboration Generation: Millennials & Collaborative Practice", published on LinkedIn on June 12, 2019.
  • Presented Judge George Bird and Commissioner Doreen Boxer at the South Bay Bar Association’s Event, "Criminal and Family Law Restraining Orders: Practical tips from the Bench." May 16, 2019
  • Co-authored an article titled "Improving the Mental Health of Children in Divorce," published in the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Family Law Symposium Reference Book (May 2017-present)
  • Spoke to volunteers at the Caring House, a hospice board and care facility, about the intersection of estate planning issues and end of life care on January 22, 2018

Location
  • 116 Avenue I
    Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Education
  • University of Southern California, B.A., graduated 2013
  • University of Southern California, Juris Doctor, graduated 2017
Bar Admissions
  • California, The State Bar of California, 2017
Affiliations
  • University of Southern California, Young Alumni Council - Executive Committee (2018- 2020), Ambassador (2017-2019)
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association, Domestic Violence Legal Services Project - Volunteer Attorney (2017- 2020)
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association, Barristers/Young Attorneys Section - Co-Chair of Membership Committee and liaison to LACBA's family law section
Court Admissions
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of California

McGaughey & Spirito
Headquarters: Redondo Beach, California

3 The Best Lawyers in America® awards

1 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America award

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Recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America 2025 for work in:
  • Family Law
  • Family Law: Arbitration and Mediation

Publications

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