In 1996, I decided to open up my own solo practice, and have enjoyed having an office of my own. I have focused on family law, with a small, select group of art law clients.
My principal goal is to offer very personalized legal services to clients, specifically tailored to the individual presentation of each case. Family law is about relationships and preserving a sense of protection, proportion, fairness, and attention to the needs of children when adult relationships disintegrate. I focus on child custody, support, marital, premarital, and settlement contracts, property division, domestic violence, and mediation in the context of dissolution of marriage, paternity actions, and partnerships. My art law practice is similarly tailored to the individuals involved and includes contracts, copyright, moral rights, licensing agreements, and most issues related to visual arts law in terms of the individual artist.
I believe that my unique strength is my interest in understanding people. In law school, I studied Law and Psychiatry with three psychiatrists and a law professor and I have taken continuing education courses required for custody evaluators as well as a comprehensive domestic violence course for psychologists working in family law. As much as possible, I try to keep up with the literature and new developments in psychology in the context of custody and domestic violence. Understanding the viewpoint of the psychologist in a custody evaluation is challenging and extremely important to the practice of family law. I study to understand, and to be able to anticipate behavior in my clients and other parties to family law cases. Most importantly, this study keeps my thinking flexible and helps me to come up with ideas -- ideas for settlement, ideas for strategy, whatever is necessary to best represent my client.
My lifelong interest in nonviolence as a viable means of conflict resolution has also contributed to my family law practice. Nonviolence teaches us to look for alternatives to conflict; it teaches us to think issues through from multiple perspectives, again, generating ideas. The solutions to problems cannot all be the same for everyone. This is why I believe that the ability to creatively come up with ideas is one of the most important qualities for practicing family law. Naturally, ideas are the basis of conflict resolution through mediation. I believe in a hands-on approach where the parties and mediator brainstorm. I know I am succeeding when the parties get excited about the ideas and start talking about solving the remainder of their issues and problems between themselves. That is a most successful feeling of resolution; when the attorney drops into the background and becomes the educated scrivener.
Association/Professional Organization Memberships
California State Bar, American Bar Association, San Mateo County Bar Association, Santa Clara County Bar Association (member of Family Law Sections for all four associations; member of the Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section for the ABA)
Besides the Family Law Section memberships in San Mateo County and Santa Clara County, I also belong to California Lawyers for the Arts and the Graphic Artists Guild.
Papers and Publications
"Making Your Way Through Small Claims Court," Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, D.C., Area reprint series, "The Essentials of Arts Management."