Home

Our Team

Legal Services/Self Help Services

Testimonials

Informational Websites

Legal Services

We provide legal services for the following:

LITIGATION

Each spouse in a divorce proceeding hires a lawyer to handle the divorce. Whether a person is negotiating a settlement or presenting a case to the court, he or she needs a knowledgeable and experienced family lawyer to get the benefit of all the law has to offer. The divorce lawyer represents one spouse in the traditional attorney-client relationship that may involve litigation or result in a negotiated settlement. Litigation in court is costly from the financial and emotional perspective. However, certain family matters can only be resolved through litigation.

COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE

Collaborative Divorce is a new paradigm for conflict resolution in the area of dissolution of marriage. In this genre, lawyers support the belief that family is forever; therefore family disputes are best resolved outsideof a courtroom using collaborative strategies rather than adversarial methods like litigation. Non-adversarial dispute resolution is the goal of this divorce process. Using this structure, the process models a commitment to honesty, dignified behavior, and mutual respect. The attorney also uses disagreement between the parties as a way to find creative solutions in order to reach collaborative settlement. Imagine a divorce in which collaboration replaces competition, where financial disclosure is mandatory, and mediation becomes the rule rather than the exception.

MEDIATION

In this paradigm, a neutral mediator assists the disputants to reach a voluntary resolution of the dispute. Even when disputants are required to attend mediation, every decision reached at mediation is voluntary. When and where to mediate, and who will mediate, are choices made by the disputants. Whether or not lawyers attend the mediation and what role they fill at the mediation are also matters of choice. The outcomes that are reached by the parties are often detailed as well as creative and may, by consent, address other matters. The role of the mediator can vary.  Some mediators will give their non-binding opinion about what a court would decide. Other mediators will avoid giving an opinion but will encourage
parties to carefully consider certain aspects of the dispute. Still other mediators focus on how the dispute has impacted the disputants’ relationship. In most cases, mediation is confidential and private.

PRE-NUPTUAL OR POST NUPTIAL AGREEMENTS

Prenuptual or post nuptial agreements are generally contracts that persons enter into in contemplation of marriage or after marriage which establish the property and support rights of the persons during the marriage and at the time of divorce. Practically speaking, these agreements accomplish three objectives: First, they set forth in the agreement what property each person is bringing with them into the marriage (which is characterized as separate property) to establish who has the legal right to manage, control, possess and sell that separate property. Second, prenuptual agreements can affect how property acquired during the marriage is characterized. Third, the parties can contract as to the issue of spousal support.

Self Help Services

In Self-help Services, our legal staff will provide the expertise to allow some clients to represent themselves in a family law proceeding. This is often referred to as ‘unbundled legal services.’

What is an ‘unbundled legal service’?

Unbundled legal services is a way of describing how attorneys can represent clients in a limited manner. Essentially it breaks down the multiple roles an attorney plays into a smaller, simpler group of tasks.

California State has adopted so-called "unbundling" rules permitting people to represent themselves in court without an attorney (referred to as "pro se") while still permitting attorneys to perform certain tasks for the client. The new rules are intended to help people receive the benefit of legal advice in the drafting of documents and preparation of their cases without the necessity of paying an attorney to appear in court on their behalf, unless they make specific arrangements to do so.

Unbundled Services include:

• Advice about availability of alternative means to resolving the dispute, including mediation and arbitration.
• Evaluation of clients’ self-diagnosis of the case and advising client about legal rights.
• Guidance and procedural information for filing or serving documents.
• Reviewing correspondence and court documents.
• Preparing and/or suggesting documents to be prepared.
• Factual investigation: contacting witnesses, public record searches, in-depth interview of client.
• Legal research and analysis.
• Discovery: interrogatories, depositions, requests for document production.
• Planning for negotiations.
• Planning for court appearances made by client.
• Backup and trouble-shooting during the trial.
• Referring client to other counsel and to other experts.
• Counseling client about possible appeal.