Family law partners Anthony D. Storm and Tigran Palyan met for the first time over lunch in 2009 at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.
"It's kind of weird because I really got introduced to a bunch of people there," Palyan said. "But for whatever reason, I kept seeing him around, and we became friends."
Both lawyers were working for family law judges at the time - Storm was clerking and Palyan was a research attorney. Both went on to positions at large family law firms after their time at Mosk. Storm was at Harris Ginsberg LLP and then Walzer Melcher LLP while Palyan spent time at what was then Brot & Gross LLP before moving to Trope and Trope LLP.
The two attorneys also ultimately chose to strike out on their own, launching different family law shops as sole practitioners, but it wasn't too Long before they were teaming up on cases.
"We think alike, we strategize alike and we have the same work ethic." Storm said. "We think about our cases similarly, but we also complement each other in different ways."
Eventually, the family law duo was spending so much time working together on cases that combining forces to launch a new boutique started making good sense.
"We decided we were getting tired of explaining to clients why they were hiring two firms," Palyan recalled with a chuckle. "By that time, we did most things together anyway, so it just made sense to actually make it official and form the firm."
In early 2022, the two certified family law specialists launched Storm Palyan LLP, and the firm is home to five attorneys operating out of offices in Glendale and Century City. According to Storm, the boutique focuses primarily on complex family law matters, the boutique handles everything from property division to spousal support, child support, custody and appeals
"Most cases that come in the door, we don't accept," Storm added. "I don't like dealing with people who are disingenuous. The last thing I want is to hear about a problem at trial that I didn't know beforehand. I want to know the good facts and the bad facts, so we can handle them."
Storm also mentioned the firm's interest in what he described as meritorious matters.
"Not necessarily meritorious like, 'Oh, I'm going to win this,'" he explained, "but somebody deserving of really, really good intellectual representation."
Palyan noted that listening plays a critical role at the firm.
"I find that a lot of attorneys - maybe it's just because of the type-A personality thing - like to hear themselves speak," Palyan explained. "But you'd be surprised how much you can extract from just listening to your client. ... I think Tony and I share that humility of listening to people and actually doing things that make sense for them and treating our firm not so much like a business but instead as a profession."
Los Angeles family law attorney Lauren O. Youngman has opposed Storm Palyan LLP in the past, and she said the firm has a reputation for high quality work and integrity.
"If you see them on the other side, you're not concerned that it's going to be a nasty fight," Youngman said. "But you may be concerned that you're going to have a real opponent. You're going to have to work. You're definitely going to have to cross your Ts and dot your Is. ... They're very good at what they do."
Youngman was opposite Palyan on a highly contentious family law case that ultimately settled a couple of years ago.
"There are a lot of family law attorneys out there, unfortunately, who are not very honest, who are not very professional and who are not as easy to work with," Youngman said. "But with Tigran, the word that comes to mind is integrity. He's just a very honest, straightforward attorney who you can trust. When he says something, he means it."
Youngman noted that she and Palyan were eventually able to settle that difficult case they opposed each other on without a mediator.
"He and his client came over to my office, and we had an all-day settlement conference, and we resolved the whole thing," Youngman recalled. "There are a lot of people in our community that I wouldn't invite over to my office to have a settlement conference just between the two of us. We would definitely have to have a mediator. ... But Tigran is the type of attorney you can work things out with even if even it's extremely contentious."
Storm said practicing with empathy is a fundamental principle for the firm.
"This is not a case where people's lives are your inventory. I don't believe in that. These are some of the most important decisions people make," he explained. "And I guess the mantra, 'Do no harm,' really comes to light because you should be making as few cuts as you possibly can. ... You don't always win when you should win. Sometimes when you shouldn't win, you do. But it's really important that your client has confidence in you, and I believe we've accomplished that."