Lauren Welling is a Partner at Slater Slater Schulman LLP and founder of The Welling Firm, APC, helping business owners protect what they've built — and the families connected to it — throughout Orange County, Los Angeles, and Southern California.
Most business owners collect a rotating cast of attorneys — one for the last contract, another for the last dispute, a third when the succession question finally couldn't wait. Lauren is built to be the one who stays.
Over a decade of complex litigation experience means Lauren drafts contracts and structures deals knowing exactly how they fail in a courtroom — and builds around that, instead of finding out the hard way.
Business formation, contracts, succession, and the personal estate plan connected to it all live with the same attorney — not four different ones who've never spoken to each other.
When a matter needs a specialist she doesn't hold herself — tax, real estate, IP — Lauren brings them in and manages the outcome, rather than handing off and disappearing.
Lauren Welling didn't set out to spend her career around courtrooms and case files — she set out to help people who'd been dealt a bad hand. That instinct showed up early, back in law school, when she spent her days advocating for children and families caught up in the dependency system. It's shaped everything she's done since.
Outside the office, she's a mom who shows up for her kids' school events, a longtime volunteer with organizations that connect lawyers to communities that need them, and someone who genuinely believes the law works best when it's explained in plain language, not jargon. Clients don't get a rehearsed pitch from Lauren — they get someone who will tell them exactly where they stand, good or bad, and then do the work to get them somewhere better.
Years of complex litigation taught Lauren that legal problems rarely stay in one lane — a single event can touch a business, a family, and an estate all at once. That's the instinct behind her focus today: protecting business owners' companies through succession planning and solid contracts, and the fiduciary and estate matters that are almost always tangled up with the business itself.
Lauren began her litigation career in 2013, building more than a decade of experience in complex pharmaceutical, medical-device, and product-liability matters. She continues to serve as a Partner at Slater Slater Schulman LLP, while bringing that same procedural rigor to business succession, fiduciary, and estate-planning matters through The Welling Firm.
Lauren began her legal career at the Children's Law Center of California, working on dependency matters involving minors and families throughout Los Angeles County. That experience gave her an early understanding of how deeply legal decisions can affect individuals and families.
As a Judicial Extern for the Honorable Michael R. Wilner in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Lauren gained a behind-the-scenes view of federal litigation, judicial decision-making, and complex motion practice.
Lauren began representing individuals injured by defective pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices. That work became the foundation of her legal career and shaped her commitment to helping people navigate complex, high-stakes litigation.
Over the next eight years at Sanders Phillips Grossman, Lauren worked on large-scale pharmaceutical and medical device cases, developing extensive experience in product liability, coordinated litigation, and representing clients facing life-changing injuries.
Lauren later became a Partner at Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, where she continued handling complex mass tort matters and expanded her experience with multidistrict litigation and California coordinated proceedings.
Lauren joined Slater Slater Schulman LLP in Beverly Hills, bringing more than a decade of complex litigation experience to the firm's practice. She continues to serve as a Partner at the firm, representing clients in significant and complex matters.
Through The Welling Firm, Lauren helps business owners protect what they've built — succession planning, contracts, and the fiduciary and estate matters connected to the business. She's also well equipped to help with a standalone family matter, like a will, a trust, or stepping in as executor, when that's all someone needs. When appropriate, she coordinates with other trusted professionals so clients benefit from both personalized attention and the resources a complex matter may need.
