About Darren Goodman

In December 1994, at my swearing-in ceremony, the district court judge instructed the hundreds of newly admitted California Bar members to specialize in our career pursuits. I took this sound advice quite literally.

After earning my Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at San Diego, I came home to Los Angeles to attend Pepperdine University School of Law where I discovered an interest in tax law and the specialty field of employee benefits law. Eager to test my interest in this field, I spent over five years working as an Employee Benefits/Pension consultant and attorney in Los Angeles. In the course of such representation, I worked with all types of defined benefit and defined contribution plans, gaining invaluable experience in document drafting, curing plan defects through IRS correction programs, conducting plan audits to ensure overall compliance with ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code, and handling a variety of other legal issues.

In addition to the above tasks, I was responsible for “qualifying” domestic relations orders on behalf of plan administrators. As part of this process, I developed QDRO procedures, sample QDRO language, and guidelines—all of which are sensitive to changes in tax laws and court cases dealing with retirement plans.

My experience with retirement plans and dedication to this highly specialized field of law has brought me recognition among family law attorneys and judges in California as an expert in this field. I frequently appear as a speaker and lecturer at local bar association functions and attorney meetings. I also write a newsletter entitled QDRO quarterly which is sent to attorneys throughout California.