I would go elsewhere…read more Go to a mediator with assistance from a lawyer to get the same result for a fraction of the cost, or go to a lawyer that can help get you more than the standard. Pros: - 30K for 1 year, 9 months is on the cheaper end for divorce costs. This is for minimal back and forth, agreed upon most everything. - Filed initial petition for divorce within a week. - Divorce finalized relatively quickly (7 months). It just took longer due to 401k asset division which can only be done once divorce is finalized. - Didn't try to waste money or time on things they didn't think I could get anyway. Con: - Uploaded so many financial documents just to use the calculator at the end. - Made a mistake for using bonus table - 20K income discrepancy in favor of my ex. - 401K lawyer they referred me to made a 30K mistake - forgot to remove my balance from prior to marriage, in favor of my ex. - Didn't really fight on my behalf. Ex: When I wanted to use the car purchase price as it was bought just a few months prior for asset division - response was - we can't really do that. - Didn't really give any good options / solutions on things that mattered. Ex: More time with kid - response is standard is 2-2-3. I actually ended up coming up with a schedule that gave me more time while still legally meeting 50/50 standard. Decide your priorities, and if your ex is more or less willing to work with you - go mediation + lawyer route. Or go for a lawyer who has experience getting more than the standard, and ask for examples. Tricky part is making sure they're not just dragging out the legal process to get more $$.

They were supposed to help me defend against a restraining order for kicking the door of my family…read morehome with my flip flops on. My ex used to throw things at me and call me cunt and cocksucker. He lied about me abusing him to court and this firm didn't do their job of getting a restraining order against my ex. This firm did not address the police report showing I had not harmed my ex. The judge ruled against me based on my ex just saying I hit him in the face and police came but the report says no such thing happened. I spent 60k or more asking this firm for help. I ended up with a restraining order and lost my kids. This firm told me they could handle my divorce otherwise and the attorney who was handling it ignored my requests repeatedly and dismissed my concerns and did not explain or discuss a plan for how to get thru the case. I fired them because I was going broke. I would avoid asking for help here. One paralegal also spoke in the most condescending way to me. This law firm also would go along with what my ex's lawyer wanted and sometimes not even tell me they were doing that. It was really disturbing. I'm a woman and brown and have less money than my millionaire ex. I don't feel this firm had any goal to help me get any rights in divorce. Any rights I asked for help with regarding protection from my abusive ex were minimized by court hearings and I regret asking for attorneys to help.

If you are a mother who is getting a divorce, do NOT hire this firm…read more After working with them for a year, they encouraged me to relinquish all child support and more. They did not advocate for me. They were very unresponsive to emails and failed to file or send paperwork on time. Unfortunately, my experience showed that these attorneys do not have one's children's best interest at heart. Read more

I feel so lucky that I found Deborah. Her reviews on Yelp inspired me to reach out. I am so glad I…read moredid! She helped me understand the process of divorce. She gave me an excellent recommendation for a mediator. I utilized Deborah for advice and to help me with paperwork during the mediation. My situation is a little bit tricky, but she helped me think it through. Thanks to her support, our process was fairly painless and we ended on good terms. Divorce is so overwhelming, Deborah helped me take it one step at a time. I am so grateful.

Shane Nielson was the volunteer attorney assigned to my family law settlement conference. Despite…read morehis "many years of experience," he showed up unprepared, misrepresented the rules governing confidentiality, and repeatedly talked over me, a self-represented party attempting to participate in good faith. He refused to review my confidential settlement letter in direct violation of Alameda County Local Rule 5.45(b)(15), which states that written settlement offers may be submitted in confidence to the court. This rule exists to protect parties from coercion and encourage honest negotiations, yet he insisted the offer had to be shared with the opposing party first, which is simply false. Despite claiming he had reviewed "many hours" of case materials, it was clear he had only skimmed my filings. He misunderstood core terms of my proposal and appeared more interested in pushing for a quick resolution than in engaging with the legal and factual complexities of the case. His conduct was not neutral, nor professional, and his repeated attempts to steer me toward additional financial concessions felt dismissive and biased. I expected a neutral facilitator. Instead, I got someone who ignored the rules, undermined the process, and disrespected my role and voice as a participant. I've submitted a complaint to the court to formally document this experience and strongly advise against working with Shane Nielson in any legal context involving settlement or dispute resolution

I am not one to write poor reviews, to me it is a waste of time and I rely on others to relay…read morecritical information. However, I want others to carefully research who they are going to invest their money and time on. My wife and I were clueless and in a rush, and because of this we had such a traumatizing experience due to the negligence and lack of measures Mr. Nielson failed to take. I have been waiting 8 months to write this. Let me explain. My wife was looking to relocate out of CA with her 4yo son due to the increasing costs of living as I am sure you are all aware of. My wife has sole legal and physical custody, and the dad has a criminal background and does not support financially. She and I had significantly better opportunities for work in Las Vegas, and overall could provide a more comfortable and stable life for her son. We brought up our situation with Mr. Nielson in January/February of 2023, around the time of her lease renewal. He explained to us that my wife has every right (the presumptive right) to relocate with her son to NV, and gave her the green light. We packed her things, she quit her job, and we simply moved everything to my home in Las Vegas. He warned us of other party filing a motion and the unlikelihood of it getting approved. Few weeks later, it was approved. Police were calling my wife because the other party was attempting to call an Amber Alert, though she has full custody. Prior to this we got a brief email from Mr. Nielson stating she needed to move back, not a call, no reassurance or explanation of the current situation. Her son had to move back to CA with her sister, my wife kept her new job here in Vegas because we assumed that the move needed a formal court hearing prior to being granted. The hearing was 6 weeks away, the longest 6 weeks for my wife having to be away from her son. The court date arrives. Mr. Nielson assures us that he will have us three (her son, her, and i) on our flight back home to Vegas on that day. After the hearing the other party ends up with more rights (from supervised to unsupervised visitations) and we are left with another court date 2 months out and loads of uncertainty. We immediately felt like we lost, including Mr. Nielson. He had poor rapport with this judge (which I learned is significantly important). We were left devastated, and all he could say was "There is nothing we can do. The judge is not following the law". My wife had to quit her new job and move back to CA with her sister. Almost 2 months total of lost income because proper steps were not taken. And approximately 2 months of me paying for Nielson's services totaling up to approximately $7000-$8000. Here is where we eventually terminated our services with Mr. Nielson. Now I am no attorney, but after months of research on move-away cases I had to do on my own I did learn these things. For move-away cases there are many things to consider and steps to take. To start you have Lamusga Factors, but MOST IMPORTANTLY you have to file a move-away order. This is the crucial and most detrimental step Mr. Nielson failed to address. No matter the situation, if the other party is in prison for example, a Move-Away Order must always be filed prior to relocating. Mr. Nielson failed to mention this in the beginning, failed to file one, and again failed to mention it after our first court hearing. "There is nothing we can do, she is not following the law." Again I am no legal expert, however this is why I and a lot of you will come to a professional. After terminating our services, we ultimately won the case (9/27/23) with another attorney and were able to relocate. It did not have to go this way had he initially taken the proper steps, had he not given the other party (without a lawyer) the legal advantage. Our new attorney essentially had to clean up after Nielson which took approx 5 months and more legal expenses. My wife did not have to move prematurely and be in/out of work for 2 months. I'm sorry to write this, but my wife suffered far too much financially and emotionally due to his negligence and $7000-$8000 for 2-3 months of services was far from what I expected.

I cannot recommend working with David Worsham enough. I was going through one of the most…read morechallenging periods of my life, and he guided me through my divorce with professional efficiency and a very honest, down-to-earth candor that really grounded me. I've referred others to him who have had the same experience and still reference him to this day.

Brook and her team helped me with my divorce, and I cannot underscore enough how grateful I am. I…read morehad been trying mediation for several years with little progress, and I felt frustrated and was ready to give up on mediation Brook helped me gain clarity about what was important to me and helped lay out a road map for how to move forward and try to finish through mediation. She helped me understand the law and see areas I should offer more leeway while at the same time encouraging me to take a stronger stance about issues that really mattered. She also gave incredibly valuable guidance on legal issues that had been overlooked in mediation; such insights lead to substantial changes to the final agreement in my favor. She and her team are incredibly efficient and also provided a lot of follow-up and warm support. I know Brook would have been a great lawyer in court, but with her guideance I was able to save additional time and money and complete mediation after a few sessions. With Brook's advice I participated in mediation with greater confidence and the final agreement was much fairer. Now that the divorce is behind us, my relationship with my ex is improving and coparenting is much smoother. I would highly recommend Meakin's Law!

Now I know first-hand why Joe, Robert, Jenn & team are widely recognized and respected across our…read moreCounty. They are true experts that intend to bring your case to completion. Robert Sehn led my divorce case. He is tremendously knowledgable, and throughout the case, was highly regarded by the judge and opposing counsel. Robert's initiative and attention to detail is stellar. During our settlement conference, Robert began crafting the the agreement memorandum in real-time after moving through a complex set of variables. This firm is the very best--they will get your case to the finish-line, as they did mine.

I'd highly recommend avoiding this firm. Please read below and anything I said below can be…read moreverified or is a statement of opinion. Joe Wolch and Kate Mignani my message for you, don't ever forget how a 30 year old respondent with no law experience and a $20 a month ChatGPT subscription outsmarted and beat your entire firm in court. Law School 101: It's not what you know, what you feel or think, it's what you can prove in court Joe. (I did also have an attorney but most of my preparation was done with AI). Big thanks to Joe Wolch and Kathryn Mignani for representing my ex in both our divorce and a restraining order case. In my opinion, it lacked evidentiary support and may have been tactically motivated, as I've come to learn is not uncommon in Family Law cases for leverage in negotiating. For a marriage that lasted just six months with roughly around $5,000 in total community property, no kids, no houses, they still managed to rack up over $57,220 in legal fees on her side. This review is legitimate and follows Yelps TOS as it deals with my experience with them being the OC in this case. Their client (my ex) was ultimately found not credible and impeached multiple times in court, leading Honorable Judge Wendy Coates to dismiss the TRO completely. And at the end of the divorce case, she had to write me a equalizing check for property division.... Kathryn Mignani specifically was the attorney that questioned me when I was on the stand testifying. During my testimony, I observed Kate Mignani struggling with basic questioning and often stuttering over her words, and seemingly not able to respond with how I was answering the questioning. From my perspective, she seemed unprepared to challenge testimony that I had carefully and anticipated for months. I studied for hours on how to properly answer these questions and Mignani didn't grasp I was able to circumvent what she was wanting me to say. In my opinion, this demonstrated a lack of competence in trial advocacy. My attorney and I were expecting at least a little more in-depth questioning but got nothing of substance. I have no formal legal training, so I actually used AI and large language models to simulate potential cross-examination questions from Wolch, Mignani, and their paralegal (I believe her name is Kate Gums). I fed the system our prior correspondences and noted their behavioral patterns in how they reacted to documents my attorney, Aaron, and I would submit. This helped me prepare extensively for what I anticipated would be a much more thorough line of questioning. The AI was actually more in-depth and subjectively speaking, harder to answer than Mignani herself. In my personal opinion, it was fairly obvious from the start that this wasn't truly a domestic violence case, but rather an attempt to manage my ex's public image. Now I don't know whether or not Wolch's team advised my ex this claim had no foundation, but one can only hope they did. Looking back, I'm surprised Wolch's firm chose to proceed. But seeing the attorney's fees disclosure each party exchanged, showing around $57,220 plus several days of trial that hadn't been billed yet, it now puts the situation into a clearer perspective. I left the courtroom genuinely surprised that someone this terrible in trial advocacy could be in active legal practice. Joe Wolch, who I assume owns the firm and I'd assume is responsible for approving this case and continuing it to depths of ridiculousness, continued to pursue the matter despite the absence of any credible evidence indicating wrongdoing on my part. This resulted in an unwarranted challenge and attempt to ruin my reputation and professional standing. I understand not every attorney shines in litigation, but in my perspective, this felt more like someone winging it than advocating effectively. Kate Mignani was absolutely terrible at questioning me up on the stand and I'd highly advise contacting me if you want to see the transcripts of how awful she was during the trial. If anyone is interested in reviewing the partially redacted public transcript or the case itself, feel free to reach out, everything was said on the record and is available for verification. Thank you again, Joe and Kate, for representing my ex throughout both our brief marriage and a lengthy restraining order dispute. Despite a marriage that lasted just over six months with limited community property and no children, legal fees on her side exceeded $57,220. In my opinion, the TRO lacked evidentiary support and appeared strategically motivated. Ultimately, Honorable Judge Wendy Coates dismissed the restraining order after finding my ex's testimony not credible and specifically noting that certain claims were impeached by video and witness evidence. It turns out the court sided with actual evidence over uncorroborated allegations. I never had any doubt I'd win.

I cannot recommend Nicole Palang and the staff at Bay Area Family Law Center highly enough. Going…read morethrough a divorce is incredibly difficult, but Nicole and her team were attentive and helpful every step of the way. Nicole is incredibly sharp and professional, yet remained very approachable whenever I had questions. What really stood out was how dynamic she was in the final stages. I expected the process to drag on much longer, but she worked efficiently with the judge and the opposing attorney to get everything finalized. I am so grateful to have had them as my guides.

Anne Bonfiglio for the WIN!!!! 5 stars simply isn't enough to convey my experience having retained…read moreAnne as my counsel in a divorce and RO case. The lady knows her stuff and is worth every penny. She's been in the game for 40 years, and in my opinion, experience matters. She's that rare combination of firm but respectful, professional yet compassionate, extremely knowledgeable but not arrogant. I trusted her immediately. In the courtroom I felt well prepared by Anne, and she didn't miss a beat. She is incredibly skilled at knowing when to speak up and when to hold back. She is whip smart, and excellent listener and has a laser sharp read on people. I would not want to be opposing counsel against her. She arrives calm and prepared, and has a firm handle on what the judge needs to see to rule in your favor. I'm not just thrilled that we won; I've been genuinely impressed with Anne's capability and professionalism throughout the whole process. She is responsive, prompt, and will go out of her way to let you know how to keep costs down. Without hesitation, I give Anne Bonfiglio and everyone I interacted with my gratitude and highest recommend! Thank you for being on my team, Anne!!!

I met with Carla Passera to potentially take over my case. Carla provided great insights and I felt…read moreconfident during our call she understood what needed to be done. I may have ultimately chosen another firm based on the specific dynamics of my case, but I still want to highly recommend her if you have the chance because she left a great impression on me.

Very satisfied with Maria's help. She was extremely responsive and supportive throughout the…read moreprocess. I would highly recommend!

John Larson has helped me recently with a very emotional and tumultuous time in my life. Without…read morehis guidance and consultation I wouldn't have known where to begin, he has assisted me in gaining some control and normalcy in my life. John has been prompt in answering my questions and concerns. Despite my very busy schedule, has has made himself available by phone and email. If you're looking for an honest, reliable, and enthusiastic man to represent you, he is it. I retained his services and he has made me feel like family.

I retained John Larson after he eagerly offered to help with my custody and child support case, and…read moreI made the mistake of paying him up front in full. The core problem was pace and communication. Multiple requests for updates on my own case went entirely unanswered, including several where I was simply asking where things stood. I frequently had to call, text, and email repeatedly to get any status at all. No discovery was ever conducted on the opposing party's finances, despite that being central to the case and despite my raising it. I ended up having to pursue that myself later. The worst moment came on the day of a child support hearing. I called his office roughly five minutes before it was scheduled to begin, and he told me himself that he could not appear and that I should get another attorney for my child support case. I had to go into court alone to request a continuance, with no notice and no preparation. When I terminated the representation, I requested a full refund of unearned fees and an itemized accounting. He declined to provide a full refund or itemized accounting. I have texts and emails documenting all of this. I lost thousands of dollars and, worse, a year of progress on a case where timing mattered. If you are considering John Larson for a family law case involving custody or child support, I'd highly recommend looking anywhere else.