Laura Anne Matsie Chickering

Laura Matsie Chickering finds personal and professional fulfillment in assisting families through their most difficult moments. Laura’s focus is family law litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Laura understands that active listening and understanding are critical to negotiating solutions tailored to each client’s case while also providing an optimal outcome. She assists clients in dissolution of marriage, legal separation, child custody and visitation, spousal support and child support, domestic violence, and post-judgment modifications. She has represented clients in complex and high asset financial cases, incorporating as necessary the work of forensic accountants, business evaluation professionals, and/or real estate valuation professionals to achieve results for her clients. Laura also has significant experience litigating high conflict child custody, visitation, and domestic violence matters. Additionally, she is skilled in mediation, having completed a 40-hour mediation training in 2016, augmenting her ability to negotiate effectively in complex family law matters.

Before pursuing her family law career, Laura interned for the United States Senate in 2009, where she conducted policy research and corresponded with constituents. She was nominated to the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2010 where she was a member of the Pi Sigma Alpha Honors Fraternity and Vice President of the Delta Zeta Sorority. Laura received her Paralegal Certificate in 2011 from Loyola University Chicago, and obtained her Doctor of Law degree from the Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2016 where she was named to the Dean's List and received the prestigious CALI Excellence for the Future Award for her scholastic achievements in sexual orientation and the law.

Depth of Experience
Laura began her family law career as a Judicial Extern with the Domestic Relations Trial Division of the Cook County Circuit Court in 2014. She assisted in legal research, preparation of judicial opinions, and general correspondence. Shortly after obtaining her law degree and passing the Illinois State Bar in 2016, she moved to the Bay Area and passed the California State Bar in 2017.

Laura has legal experience in intellectual property and corporate law which assists her in navigating complex family law matters. Laura's practice has been exclusively focused on California family law matters since 2018.
Laura is a member of the Alameda and San Francisco Bar Association Family Law Sections.

Professional Awards & Recognition
2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 Super Lawyer Rising Star (Northern California)
2015 CALI Award for Sexual Orientation and the Law

Publications
Coercive Control and the 2020 Amendments to the DVPA | Bar Association of San Francisco Justice and Diversity Center I 2021