Gregory W. Jessner

Biography Gregory W. Jessner is a founding partner at Phillips Jessner LLP. He has extensive experience litigating family law cases throughout California on behalf of high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients since 2005. Mr. Jessner is a certified family law specialist and has been recognized as a Southern California "Super Lawyer" every year since 2012. Mr. Jessner represents clients in all areas of family law, including premarital and postnuptial agreements, marital dissolution proceedings, paternity proceedings, and domestic violence restraining order proceedings. He has successfully litigated trials on behalf of clients and has also testified as an expert in malpractice actions against family law attorneys. Before forming Phillips Jessner LLP, Mr. Jessner represented the United States at the United States Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, holding a number of managerial positions including Chief, Criminal Complaints Section (1998-1999), Deputy Chief, Major Crimes Section (1994-1998), and Violent Crime Coordinator (1994-1998). He received national recognition for his work as lead counsel for the prosecution in a case involving the indictment of forty members of the Aryan Brotherhood, believed to be the largest federal capital prosecution in U.S. history. He also successfully prosecuted two Jewish Defense League members who plotted to bomb the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City. While handling notable and complex cases, he maintained an unbroken record of success at trial. From 1985 to 1989, Mr. Jessner served as a Deputy District Attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. A former trial advocacy instructor for the Attorney General's Advocacy Institute, Mr. Jessner has lectured in numerous courses for the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Education. Mr. Jessner received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1982. He received a Juris Doctor in 1985 from Boalt Hall School of Law, where he was winner of the 1983 Moot Court Award for Best Brief, served as research assistant to professors Melvin Eisenberg and Michael Traynor, and served as an associate editor of the California Law Review.

• Partner

• United States Attorney's Office, Los Angeles, California, Assistant United States Attorney, 1989 - Present
• United States Attorney's Office, Los Angeles, California, Chief, Criminal Complaints Section, 1998 - 1999
• United States Attorney's Office, Los Angeles, California, Deputy Chief, Major Crimes Section, 1994 - 1998
• United States Attorney's Office, Los Angeles, California, Violent Crime Coordinator, 1994 - 1998
• Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Deputy District Attorney, 1985 - 1989
• Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Senior Law Clerk, 1985
• United States Attorney's Office, San Francisco, California, Summer Law Clerk, 1984
• United States Attorney's Office, Los Angeles, California, Legal Management Evaluator

• Trial Advocacy Instructor, Attorney General's Advocacy Institute
• Lecturer in Numerous Courses, Department of Justice's Office of Legal Education

• California, 1985