Julia Drey Schneider

Julia Schneider received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Kansas, with a double major in Spanish and Latin American Studies. During her time at KU, she was involved in many campus organizations, studied abroad in Mexico and Costa Rica, and worked as a legal intern at the Douglas County District Court Trustee’s Office for three years. After graduation, Ms. Schneider moved to Barranquilla, Colombia where she taught fifth grade science and language arts at a bilingual school.

After teaching in Colombia for three years, Ms. Schneider moved to San Diego to attend a Masters of Arts program in Latin American Studies at the University of California San Diego. During graduate school, Ms. Schneider worked as a teaching assistant for the Sixth College freshman writing program, wrote a master’s thesis about Colombian peace initiatives, and volunteered several hours each week in the immigration department at the International Rescue Committee of San Diego.

Shortly after earning her MA, Ms. Schneider entered California Western School of Law as a Trustee’s Scholar. During her time at California Western, Ms. Schneider served as an editor for the California Western Law Review, was the vice president of the Public Interest Law Foundation during the 2012-2013 academic year, received two Public Service Honors awards, and received the highest grade in several classes, including Legal Skills and Writing, Civil Procedure, and Advanced Legal Research. Ms. Schneider graduated magna cum laude in the top seven percent of her class.

Ms. Schneider also held several legal intern positions during law school. She interned at the American Bar Association’s Immigration Justice Project, where she regularly traveled to the Otay Detention Center to offer informational workshops and advice to detained immigrants regarding their legal rights. She also clerked in the U. S. Attorney’s Office civil division, where she primarily worked on employment law issues, and interned at the Family Law Facilitator’s Office in the Sixth Avenue Courthouse. At the Facilitator’s Office, Ms. Schneider aided unrepresented persons with family law issues including dissolution of marriage, custody and visitation, child support, and post-judgment modifications. She also helped with the weekly dissolution of marriage and Request for Order workshops.

Ms. Schneider joined Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP in January 2014 as a certified legal intern through California Western School of Law’s clinical internship program. She later became a law clerk, and now is an associate attorney in the firm. Ms. Schneider has experience with all areas of family law, including dissolution of marriage, legal separation, child custody and visitation, grandparent visitation, move-away requests, child and spousal support, support arrears, pre-nuptial agreements, domestic violence restraining orders, and post-judgment modifications.