Kiana Katie Moradi

With 23 years of experience representing California’s senior executives, founders, and their spouses, Kiana Moradi, a named partner at Moradi Neufer LLP, protects her clients’ interests in high-asset divorces and contested custody cases so that they can transition to a more hopeful chapter in their lives. She has also developed a deep expertise in family formation, particularly surrogacy, and works hard for clients embarking on this journey.

Expert Background Tailored for High Stakes Divorce and Custody Matters

• In her 23 years of legal practice, Kiana has negotiated and litigated the full spectrum of disputes that occur in financially sophisticated divorces and contested custody cases, representing clients throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, San Francisco, the Peninsula and San Mateo County, Marin County, and Oakland and the East Bay.
• Kiana graduated from Cornell Law School with a concentration in Business Law and Regulation, a foundation she draws on daily when a divorce turns on business valuation, equity compensation, or partnership structures.
• Prior to finding her passion in family law, she was a business litigator at Reed Smith LLP, one of the nation’s 20 largest global law firms.
• She has a B.A. in psychology from UC Berkeley and has completed the Advanced Negotiation Workshop at Harvard Law School, along with numerous other negotiation, mediation, and collaborative law trainings.
• As a child of divorce herself, Kiana’s personal mission is to navigate clients towards their post-divorce lives with dignity, respect, and fairness. Kiana’s unique background enables her to understand complex business issues, the un-spoken emotions behind them, and find productive, creative solutions in the division of marital estates. She has established a professional reputation for discreetness, thoroughness, strategic thinking, loyalty, and dedication to client service. She has been consistently included as one of Northern California’s “Super Lawyers” since 2015, and has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America for family law since 2025.

Experienced and Knowledgeable Family Law Litigator and Negotiator

Kiana handles cases that range from complex financial issues and extensive marital estates to high-conflict custody matters. Adept at negotiating resolutions and pursuing litigated outcomes when a case must be tried, she also handles straightforward family law cases, premarital and post-marital agreements, and mediated settlements as consulting counsel.

Kiana has particular expertise working with founders, executives, and employees of companies of all sizes, from early-stage startups through IPO and beyond. She is experienced with the full range of equity and business assets that arise in these divorces: founders’ shares, restricted stock units (RSUs), stock options, deferred compensation, carried interest, general and limited partnership interests, real estate developments, professional practices, restaurants, bars, and intellectual property such as royalties. She understands how vesting schedules, IPO lockup periods, and disparate cost bases affect the timing, valuation, and tax consequences of dividing equity compensation, so that two settlements that look equal on paper do not leave a client in a far weaker position after tax, and she works to structure settlements that protect clients’ long-term financial interests, not just the balance sheet on the day of judgment.

Kiana also specializes in contested custody disputes, with extensive experience in move-away and relocation matters, where she guides parents through some of the most consequential decisions family court can make. She also represents clients in premarital and post-marital agreements, including agreements for business owners and high-income professionals whose future equity and business interests require careful planning. Additionally, she acts as consulting counsel to divorce mediation.

Choosing the Right Forum and Bringing in the Best Team

With each case, Kiana finds it essential to determine the most advantageous forum for the client, whether it is through out-of-court settlement, consulting counsel in mediation, private judges, or strategic litigation. When appropriate, she strategizes with her tailored network of outside consultants including forensic accountants, wealth managers, estate planners, corporate counsel, custody experts, therapists, and others. Kiana aims not only to guide her clients to the right outcome in their divorce, she is committed to setting them up for their happier lives post-divorce.

While she is not traveling much these days, Kiana has been to about 50 countries, and loves learning about new cultures. These days, when not working, she spends her time with her family, friends, and beloved dog.