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James F. Wees
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James F. Wees
The Wees Law Firm
3216 N. Third Street
Suite 201
Phoenix, AZ 85012
Phone: (602) 288-1691 | Fax: (602) 288-1692
Certified Family Law Specialist
Legal Topic
Family Law
Preferred New Clients
We assist with all types of family law matters, including custody, separations, grandparents' rights, guardianships, annulments, as well as divorce, custody and child support issues which form the majority of our practice. In addition, we will conduct family law mediations.
Sub-Categories
Family Law
- Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
- Name Changes
- Restraining Orders
- Enforcement Actions
- Child Abuse
- Domestic Violence
- Sexual Abuse
- Child Support
- Children's Rights
- Custody
- Foster Care
- Paternity
- State Child Protection
- Visitation
- Civil Unions
- Common Law Marriage
- Domestic Partnerships
- Living Together/Cohabitation
- Marriage
- Power of Attorney
- Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements
- Competency Hearings
- Guardianships & Conservatorships
- Powers of Attorney
- Advanced Health Care Directive
- Healthcare Power of Attorney
- Healthcare Proxy
- Grandparent Rights
- Termination of Parental Rights
Legal Topic
Divorce
Preferred New Clients
We assist with all types of family law matters, including custody, separations, grandparents' rights, guardianships, annulments, as well as divorce, custody and child support issues which form the majority of our practice. In addition, we will conduct family law mediations.
Sub-Categories
Divorce
- Alimony/Palimony/Spousal Support
- Annulment
- Child Support
- Custody/Visitation Rights
- Delinquent Support Payments
- Division of Property
- Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR)
- Restraining Orders
- Uncontested Divorce
Bar Admissions
AZ, Nov 1986
Specialty Certifications
Certified Specialist in Family Law and State Bar of Arizona.
Other Court Admissions
State Courts of Arizona and District Courts of Arizona.
Association Memberships
Arizona State Bar, Maricopa County Bar Association, and Family Law Section Maricopa County Bar.
Continuing Education
I attend continuing legal education programs, and due to the requirements to obtain and hold a Family Law Specialization Certificate, I am required to attend advanced level curriculum seminars, which I regularly do. Many of those advanced courses are only available out of state, and I have been an attendee at Family Law specialization courses offered in Coronado, CA for the last three years. Additionally, I have been a guest speaker for classes taught to paralegals at Kaplan University in Phoenix, Arizona.
Example Cases
I successfully defended an action brought by the father of a child born out of wedlock, represented by an established Phoenix family law lawyer, claiming that mother (my client) suffered from Munchausen's by Proxy disorder, in which the opposing party desired to obtain full custody and prevent my client from having any parenting time with the child, a five year old girl. After an intense court battle, the court awarded sole custody to my client, made her the primary parent in terms of parenting time and care for the child, and awarded my client her attorneys fees in full. While most cases can be resolved by reasonable parents, in a situation such as this, the only means to prevail against unreasonable demands by the opposing parent was to prepare for trial and fully litigate the matter.
Education
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
School:
University of Nebraska
City:
Omaha
State:
NE
Year:
1982
Focus and Accomplishments:
Majored in Psychology.
Degree:
Juris Doctorate
School:
University of Nebraska, College of Law
City:
Lincoln
State:
NE
Year:
1986
Honors:
I graduated Cum Laude.
Focus and Accomplishments:
I was a Member of the Nebraska Law Review, as well as Moot Court. In addition, Susan Wees and I represented the University of Nebraska College of Law at the Regional Client Counseling Competition, having placed first in the law school competition.
Number of Attorneys
3
State Licensed In
Arizona
Firm Focus and History
The firm was established in 2001 and has operated continuously since then. We are best known as family law lawyers, assisting individuals in the midst of family law disputes, including custody battles, child support establishment and modification, division of assets and debts, including retirement plans, real estate holdings, and business ownership division and protection. We also provide services in the areas of guardianship, grandparents' rights, relocation cases, spousal maintenance establishment, termination and modification, as well as annulments and legal separations. In addition, the firm handles related business disputes, and general litigation services which families and small business owners encounter.
Previous Employment Summary
I was associated with Ryley, Carlock & Applewhite, P.A. from 1986 to 2003, a general services law firm operating in Phoenix, Arizona, when I joined the Meyers Law Firm in Phoenix, Arizona, a small law firm at for which I was the litigation partner, handling divorce and custody cases, as well as small business owner representation. My wife and I then began practicing together with an associate attorney at the Wees Law Firm, representing individuals in family law matters.
Activities and Awards
In addition to being a Certified Specialist in Family Law, a certification provided by the State Bar of Arizona, I also serve as Judge Pro Tem in the Maricopa County Courts, administering settlement conferences in family law cases in Phoenix and the greater Maricopa County area, and covering court calendars for judges and commissioners on leave or vacation.
When I served on the bench, I handled order of protection hearings, as well as child support and family law trials and hearings. I have regularly provided pro bono services both on an individual case basis as well as through the Volunteer Lawyers Program in Maricopa County. I have served on the board of directors for various Maricopa County Bar Association committees. In addition, I have received 58 hours of Mediation training provided by 2 separate programs in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. The firm also conducts mediations of family law cases.
What is your opinion regarding clients educating themselves on legal issues?
I am in full support of clients knowing as much about the law applicable to their cases as they can obtain. During initial consultations, I will direct clients to resources available on-line at the Maricopa County Self Service Center. Many such clients who cannot afford a lawyer find the consultation and identification of resources a great help in representing themselves from that point forward. We also make available court resources such as the "Model Parenting Plans" materials used by the court system, as well as helping clients with such resources as the available on-line child support calculator. If a client sees me only one time, but gets good direction on how to represent themselves after that meeting, I am happy that we were able to put them in a much better position than if the client tried to do everything on their own.
Are you willing to review documents prepared by clients?
I will do so. Using the services of the Maricopa County Self Service program, including its forms and time spent with a Certified Specialist in Family Law, can be a very effective method to equip someone to represent themselves when circumstances don't permit hiring a lawyer. I have many clients who schedule an appointment to have me review documents they have prepared and get advice on a strategy to represent themselves. Often, this can be thoroughly covered in a single meeting for our discounted consultation fee. We have other clients who come in throughout a case with self-prepared documents for review, correction and assistance.
Are you willing to coach clients who want to represent themselves?
I am happy to do so. With the present economy, and the rates typically charged by lawyers, there are an incredible number of people who simply can't afford to hire a lawyer to represent them throughout a case. If someone can't hire a lawyer, they probably are able to afford an hour or two of time, in which documents can be reviewed and revised as well as an explanation provided as to how the system operates, insight on a particular judge can be provided, and the client can be coached to represent themselves. I tell clients all the time, "No one knows your story better than you," and that the value of a lawyer is structuring and presenting that information in the most effective way. While generally a good lawyer should be providing a level of representation which is more effective than a person representing themselves, clients who receive help in making sure documents are completed in a manner which is most persuasive, and who receive help in how to present their case, will undoubtedly do better than had they not received that advice.
Why did you decide to be a lawyer?
My wife claims that being a trial lawyer was what I was destined to be; I became a lawyer because I actually enjoy the resolution of disputes in a court setting, where often the person who is bullied by their former spouse or partner has the playing field evened by competent and knowledgeable representation. We can change the course of lives by standing up for our client's rights, which is a great thing.
What work experience and education helps you be a better lawyer?
I have worked since I was 15 years old, in a grocery store, as a meat cutter, at a small town car dealer and a mobile DJ business. I've lost three family members to cancer or kidney disease, and have had family and friends with disabling problems. The law is a set of rules by which we live our lives, and never is that more apparent than in family court. Having experience with the ups and downs in life provides perspective, as well as providing a better feeling for the value of a dollar when representing clients. Those jobs and family experiences have taught me that I owe my clients my best efforts when they have entrusted their matters, directly involving their lives, to me, and to care about the effective use of the money being spent for their representation.
Why did you decide on your primary area of practice?
In a way, it chose me. I like to be in court rather than sit behind a desk, and family law disputes involve a lot of court participation. Also, we have not advertised in the past, and our business was all through word of mouth--clients recommending us to their friends and neighbors. Our practice has grown by that word of mouth referral system and most of that practice and client need has been in the area of family law.
What do you like best about your career?
The chance to make a meaningful difference in my clients' lives, working in a field which has a direct bearing on how the next day, week and month is experienced by my clients, the chance to cross-examine and expose lies by opposing parties on the stand, the ability to be a teacher for people who would otherwise represent themselves with little or no guidance, and to hear the stories about how an hour's advice saved their relationship with their children, or kept their house or retirement from being taken from them, or how a court decision after hearing got them the relief they so desperately needed.
Tell us about your law firm:
I am primarily supported by my wife and law partner, Susan Wees, who also practices primarily in family law, and who has spent years as an instructor in a local Phoenix college for paralegals. Her experience teaching family law, and child support calculations, is invaluable to our practice. We have great staff who take personal interest in our clients and the outcomes of their cases.
What are your strengths and style?
I am a counter-puncher by style. It is a mistake, in my opinion, to pick unnecessary fights with opposing counsel. Lawyers who do so burn up their client's retainer dollars and accomplish only the alienation of the other side, and create distrust that makes settlement difficult, if not impossible. However, I don't hesitate to apply whatever lawful means available to "punch back" if the opposing party or lawyer treats my client unfairly or tries to obtain an unfair advantage.
As for strengths, I am very comfortable in a courtroom, after 23 years of practice and making an average of two to three court appearances per week on hearings and trials. Trials are subject to a limited amount time available to tell the story, and so I do my best to be a "big picture" presenter, making sure that the court understands the main points and that they are all covered in the time provided. I have all too often seen other lawyers get bogged down on minor points on behalf of their clients, only to run out of time and never address main issues of parenting time and custody, for example. Who gets the flat screen TV should not have 20 minutes of court time out of one and a half hours, when the more important issues of who will decide a child's school or medical care gets left out for lack of time management.
Personal Interests:
When I get a chance, I play a little golf. We have two small "practice" dogs--Maltese/Yorkie mixes, who are great fun. I can be an avid reader at times and play a mean game of ping pong.
Fax
(602) 288-1692
Office Hours
Monday through Friday,
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
For emergency after hours, please call (602) 369-0230.
Emergency After Hours
Yes
Fixed-Price Services and Fees
We will discount our standard rates by $50 per hour for clients who mention Nolo.
Hourly Rates
$275.
Free Initial Consultation?
We charge $125 per hour for the initial consultation with a Certified Family Law Specialist.
Typical Retainer
Our retainers are refundable deposits, which are decided upon at the time of the initial consultation. They typically range from $1,000 to $5,000, depending upon the complexity of the case, and whether it is a new matter or a post-decree proceeding (such as modification of a prior child support or alimony order).
Nolo's Licensing Check
Attorneys have passed a licensing check. Nolo has confirmed that every member attorney has a valid license and is in good standing with the applicable bar associations upon joining the directory.
Directory lawyers are required to notify Nolo immediately if they become the subject of any disciplinary action by any bar association.
