Divorce

We are actively seeking clients who want to represent themselves. We are willing to provide full representation, if needed. However, we also offer a full range of self-help services, including help completing forms, drafting pleadings, calculating child support, help with all types of mediation and arbitration, legal research and consultation or full representation at any stage of the proceedings.

Family Law

We are actively seeking clients who want to represent themselves. We are willing to provide full representation, if needed. However, we also offer a full range of self-help services, including help completing forms, drafting pleadings, calculating child support, help with all types of mediation and arbitration, legal research and consultation or full representation at any stage of the proceedings.

CA, Dec 1990
Bar Number: 148180

All California Counties.

California State Bar Association and Alameda County Bar Association.

I attend continuing education seminars, especially on topics related to family law.

1) In many cases, neither party can afford to retain an attorney. In these cases, we consult with one or even both parties (if both are willing) to help them negotiate an agreement. Or, if a dispute cannot be resolved, we can discuss other strategies to help resolve the disputes without going to court.

2) In many cases, one party can afford an attorney but the other cannot. A party can ask the court for an award of attorney's fees, but these awards are usually insufficient to cover all attorney's fees, and sometimes they are denied altogether. We have helped litigants in these circumstances who still want to be self-represented. We help them complete the required forms, draft their pleadings, and anticipate the arguments of the opposing attorney and the questions the judge may ask. In these cases, we act a litigation coach, telling the client where to sit and what to say.

1

California

The best family law attorneys work to keep their clients out of court. Divorce litigation is always expensive and always damaging. It is in the best interest of everyone involved to control both the financial and emotional costs. We believe the parties themselves should reach their own agreements, whenever possible, without going to court, because the parties are the ones best-suited to solve their own problems, and we know that the courts in California agree with this philosophy.

Since 1995, we have taken only family law cases. I have taught family law seminars for CALDA (California Association of Legal Document Assistants), which helps pro per litigants. We consult for self-represented parties whenever possible, saving them thousands of dollars in costs and fees.

Law is my second career. In my first career, I was a birth defects counselor in a children's hospital, helping families in many contexts, especially counseling related to grief and chronically ill children.

Tina

(510) 769-1792

Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Other hours upon request.

No

Tagalog

Our rate is $250 per hour for all services provided by an attorney, including consultation, document review, and coaching. Simple document preparation (typing, without document review) may be $125 per hour or may be a fixed fee if the scope of the work is well defined.

$250.

We offer a free phone consultation. The length of the consultation varies, depending on the complexity of the situation. A consultation may take up to 30 minutes.

For those requiring representation, the typical retainer is $5,000. If you are self-represented, we are willing to consult on a "pay-as-you-go" basis, and there is no retainer.