Shannon M. Elms

Attorney at Law

Shannon M. ElmsMs. Elms joined the Law Offices of Russo & Prince in January of 2004, where she has dedicated her practice to the various areas of Family Law. Prior to joining Russo & Prince, Ms. Elms worked as a law clerk, performing legal research in the Family Law Division of Matthew Bender’s Legal Publishing Corporation. Ms. Elms also has a pre-law background in financial services.

During her many years at Russo & Prince, Ms. Elms has represented and assisted numerous clients in resolving a variety of legal matters, both in court as well as through out-of-court negotiations and agreements. She has successfully represented countless spouses, parents, grandparents, and children in various family law cases, including child custody cases, complex disputes over property division, parentage and paternity cases, as well as both routine and complex dissolution of marriage and legal separation cases. She has been qualified as a court-appointed attorney for children, is a certified family law mediator, is a trained Collaborative Law practitioner, and has represented both children and adults in Family Court and Dependency Court proceedings.

Ms. Elms also has extensive experience successfully representing clients in guardianship cases, step-parent adoptions, complex parentage and/or paternity cases, as well as successfully establishing legal parenting rights for non-biological parents and same-sex couples.

Ms. Elms received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in 2003. While in law school, Ms. Elms was honored with a Moot Court Best Brief Award, served as an Executive Editor for the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly, and was a legal extern for a federal agency. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1997. During college, she worked as an intern in the United States Office of the Associate Attorney General in Washington D.C.

In her private life, Ms. Elms enjoys spending time with her dog and cat, and is an avid Bay Area sailing enthusiast.

Areas of Practice:

Bar Admissions

  • California, 2003

Memberships

  • California State Bar Association
  • Solano County Bar Association
  • Contra Costa County Bar Association
  • Napa County Bar Association
  • Board of Solano County Women Lawyers
  • International Academy of Collaborative Professionals
  • Sacramento Collaborative Practice Group
  • East Bay Collaborative Practice Group

Education

  • University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, California, 2003 – J.D.
  • University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, 1997 – B.A.
  • Major: American Studies
    Minor:Public Policy Analysis

Publications

  • Dividing Pensions and Other Retirement Benefits in California Divorces, Chap. 18, Railroad Retirement Benefits, Continuing Education for the Bar, 2006