California Divorce and Family Law Attorneys

Everything starts with the initial strategy session.

We first speak by phone. And yes, you really do speak with an experienced family law attorney. If your case is one with which we can help, we bring you in for an in-person meeting with one of our managing family law attorneys.

The strategy session starts by answering your questions. This part is all about you. Knowledge is truly power and we empower you with honest, straightfoward answers to the questions that cause you concern or anxiety.

From there, we transition to what many clients enjoy the most.

In part two, we educate you on the law and how the law applies to your specific facts. This is where you really learn the direction your case should go, what you should reasonably expect and the hurdles that may come your way depending on your spouse's motivations and even personality.

We don't predict the future. We tell you what our extensive experience has taught us about facts similar to yours and what our in-depth knowledge of family law can do for you.

At the end of the initial startegy session, we provide you with a quote for our services. Our quotes are custom made for your case.

You loved the strategy session? We hear that all the time. You have retained our family law firm? Smart choice. So what happens next? Now it is time to roll up our sleeves and start gathering critical information so we can build the short term, mid term and long term strategy for your case.

We take copious notes from our initial strategy session. We take those notes and place them into a custom form that lists all of the initial action items on your case. We then send to you a detailed list of additional information we need - facts, documents, identity of witnesses, and more. Even better, we help you gather the information if you have questions or need guidance.

It's all about collaboration and that collaboration means regular communication between you and your family law attorney. Some clients provide all of the information at once. Some clients provide it piecemeal. We will tell you what is time sensitive and what is not so you can prioritize this information and document gathering process.

"But what if I can't get my hands on the information?" Not to worry. Whatever you cannot get, we can get. We have discovery power in any divorce or parentage case which means we can get information from your spouse, the other parent or even other parties or entities such as banks, employers, you name it.

What happens after you have provided us the information you have gathered? We go to step 3. Click on the right to learn more. 

You gathered the information you could. You gave it to us. What do we do with it? First, we review it carefully and create a summary and inventory of what we have. We then take that information and create a very specific strategy customized for your case. This strategy includes a detailed evaluation of:

1. What issues should resolve amicably and how can we get those issues resolved within a reasonable time?

2. What issues may be contested or high conflict and what specific steps do we recommend to bring those issue to court?

3. What discovery (formal requests for information) should we serve on your spouse (for a divorce), your ex-spouse (post divorce judgment), the other parent (parentage cases) or on other persons or entities such as banks, employers, witnesses, etc. (through a subpoena)?

4. What specific timelines should we have for each phase of your case? We do not just litigate cases for the sake of litigating them. We work hard with you to reasonably attempt to resolve the issues that should resolve and litigate those that cannot resolve. 

5. What if your spouse or the other parent is very difficult and unreasonable? Strategy building becomes even more important. We have represented many clients whose spouse or other parent and even their lawyer thought they could intimidate or bully our client. They learned the hard way they cannot get away with that nonsense with our clients and many paid a big price for their foolish choices. We do not represent bullies and we do not tolerate them.