Stanley D. Prowse Biography

I've been practicing law for over thirty years.  During that time I've done business and transactional work as well as jury trials, bench trials, and mediations.  Currently my practice focuses on dispute resolution of all types, including divorce.  I take my clients' problems personally, and I'm determined to win for them.

My first taste of the law in action came during an internship at a blue chip Wall Street law firm called Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.  My first full time job as a lawyer was in Atlanta, Georgia, with what is now Alston & Bird, an international mega-firm.  They were formative experiences, teaching me how to be a first class attorney and act professionally and aggressively at the same time.

My work as an attorney began in business and secured lending, primarily renegotiations (called "work outs") of real esate development loans gone sour in a falling economy.  Next came litigation over what was then the country's largest bank failure, defending directors of the bank against the FDIC.  That lead to general civil litigation, much of it involving real estate and construction, more bank defense work, business bankruptcy, and finally family law.

Following that, I became an "in house" attorney for a large publicly held home builder headquartered in Beverly Hills, where I handled disputes with the company's subcontractors and supervised some of the largest and best law firms in Los Angeles as they handled lawsuits against the company and conducted our labor negotiations.  From there it was back to the East Coast, making secured bank loans to businesses and doing something new, "private placements"  of securities.  My broad knowledge in many areas of the law is invaluable in attacking your problems successfully.

Then back to the West Coast, where my career reached its final destrination. After opening my own law firm in Carlsbad, California as a sole practioner, I returned to litigation in estate, construction, small business, and family law, as well as transactional work on those areas.  Family law gradually grew to be the largest part of my practice, and I became a Certified Family Law Specialist in 2011.  My experience in other areas gives me an advantage in handling your divorce.  That's my professional history.

As for my personal history, I was born in New England, just outside Boston, Massachusetts, and spent my childhood there.  When I was a teenager, my family lived in a small town north of Scranton, Pennsylvania, in dairy farming country.  After college graduation from Yale with a Bachelor's degree in modern European history, I worked in Washington as a summer intern at the State Department.

From there I went to the School of International Affairs at Columbia University, then on to  the graduate school.  I earned my Master’s degree in history and finished my course work and reading for a Doctorate.  At last I returned to New England and Harvard Law School, where I earned by Juris Doctor degree and embarked on the legal career I've described.