Richmond Family Lawyers

Business and International Experience
Wayne started in Auckland New Zealand, graduating after completing a challenging combined Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws in just 4 years, achieving top marks at his law school at Auckland University made up of 11,000 students where he was elected Student President in a landslide victory in his last year. Then recruited by a leading Merchant Bank, MARAC Corporation, Wayne moved to Citibank before becoming the founding Company Secretary for New Zealand's first publicly listed Investment Bank, founding Company Secretary for NZ’s first publicly listed Venture Capital company and a Director of a...

I am also a Certified Public Accountant and have been doing tax work in the Bay Area for 30 years. I specialize in helping people and businesses pay as few taxes as possible without getting audited. In the estate planning area I help people preserve their property for their families and pay as few estate taxes as possible. I also am the Probate Doctor who can help fix impossible situations when estates are stuck in the quagmire of California Probate.

Porrino Law PC operates under the guidance of principal Dominic H. Porrino, who entered law practice with the intention of protecting the assets and safety of citizens by helping them negotiate the complexities of the California legal system. The competitive spirit that prompted him to play lacrosse and rugby in his youth now drives development of strategies to protect the best interests of his clients.

Mr. Porrino, an attorney whose practice encompasses legal separation, divorce, child custody and support, estate planning and other civil matters, obtained his law degree from Golden Gate University School of Law and was admitted to the...

Charlie has extensive litigation and trial experience, having litigated countless contested hearings and various jury trials. Although Charlie practices all areas of family law, his practice now focuses on complex and high-asset dissolutions, many of which require collaboration with business counsel, estate planning counsel, and/or criminal counsel. Charlie practices in all Bay Area Counties, including but not limited to San Francisco County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, and Alameda County. Charlie believes that no two family law cases are alike and that each case requires a clear understanding of his client’s needs and ultimate goals in order to achieve...

Sarah Arnott is an Attorney at Van Voorhis & Sosna LLP. Ms. Arnott was certified as a specialist in Family Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization in 2015, and served as the chairperson of the family law section of the San Francisco Bar Association's Barristers Club in 2013.

A native of New York and North Carolina, Ms. Arnott moved to California to attend Santa Clara University School of Law, from which she received her J.D. Ms. Arnott has exclusively practiced family law since 2008. She is well-versed in all areas of family law, including dissolutions, custody,...

Known for her expert representation of California’s senior executives and their spouses, Kiana protects her clients in high asset divorces and contested custody cases. In her twenty years of legal practice, Kiana has negotiated and litigated the full spectrum of disputes that occur in financially sophisticated divorces and contested custody cases. Kiana graduated Cornell Law School with a concentration in business law. Prior to finding her passion in family law, she was a business litigator at Reed Smith LLP one of the nation’s 20 largest global law firms. She has a B.A in psychology from UC Berkeley and has taken countless negotiation trainings at...

Yuli Jacobson has been practicing law for nearly ten years, seven of which were exclusively in family law and in domestic violence. A lifelong advocate at heart, Yuli takes pride in her thorough and solution-oriented approach, aiming to make the inherently emotional process of dissolution accessible, efficient, and collaborative. Before starting her family law journey, Yuli represented lower-income clients in domestic violence and housing preservation matters. Yuli is dedicated to finding and implementing the best approach for your unique circumstances, using all available resources both traditionally and creatively. She is thrilled to serve you. Yuli received her J.D. from University of...

Jacob Harker is a San Francisco Bay Area attorney. Mr. Harker has set up and run his law practice in a cost-effective and practical manner. He has done so in an effort to pass on the savings to his clients. As an attorney, Mr. Harker sees his practice as taking the lead in a new era of legal services.

Throughout her legal career, Vanessa has practiced exclusively in family law. With her legal training and knowledge, she provides compassion and advocacy for her clients. Vanessa’s experience working on a broad spectrum of family law matters include divorce, pre-divorce counseling and planning, premarital agreements, complex marital property issues, high conflict child custody disputes, child and spousal support issues and domestic violence prevention and defense. Vanessa protects her clients’ assets and the best interests of her clients and their children. She represents clients in public court and before private judicial officers. In addition, she serves as a consulting attorney for clients...

Crabtree Law PC is a full service, bi-lingual (SPANISH), family law firm dedicated to delivering personal, practical, and effective representation at an affordable cost. We are conveniently located in Walnut Creek, California. Attorney Maria Crabtree received her Bachelor of Arts degrees in Psychology and Communications from the University of California at Davis. She later returned to the University of California, Davis and earned her J.D. degree. As a sole practitioner, Ms. Crabtree is dedicated to helping families navigate through the complexities of the laws and policies that rule family law issues. Dissolution of marriage (divorce), child custody...

Paul W. Thorndal is a partner at Wald & Thorndal. He specializes in divorces of all kinds with an emphasis on gay divorce. Mr. Thorndal is a Certified Family Law Specialist (The State Bar of California Legal Specialization). Wald & Thorndal's practice areas include: Divorce, Dissolution & Contested Parentage Actions for all families; Custody Disputes; Mediation; Marvin Actions. Legal services provided at both the TRIAL and APPELLATE level. Assisted Reproduction; Adoptions of All Kinds; Family Contracts; Parenting Law including Surrogacy; Donor Contracts for Egg and/or Sperm Donations; Pre-Nupital Agreements; Co-Parenting Agreements; Domestic Partnership Agreements; Name Changes.

Experienced, dedicated and affordable immigration attorney servings the Immigration community for near 20 years. Record of winning case on asylum, VAWA claim, naturalization with criminal background, waivers, and complex family based immigrant visa petitions.

For over 14 years, Mr. Baello has litigated high stakes family law actions in three of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States - the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and New York City. Through this diversity of experience, he has the expertise and adaptability to obtain favorable results through trial or settlement in varied situations and tribunals. Ernest is a Certified Family Law Specialist (“CFLS”) per the California Board of Legal Specialization. He is also a graduate of the renowned National Family Law Trial Institute. Mr. Baello provides comprehensive and strategic representation in complicated and high conflict cases. Prior to becoming...

Kristine is an experienced litigator with extensive training in mediation and alternative dispute resolution. Kristine returned to school in 2005 as a single parent following her own divorce, and her commitment to her clients is grounded in having personally experienced the stress and uncertainty that often goes hand in hand with even the most amicable of divorces.

Kristine strongly believes in the importance of reducing the level of conflict whenever possible, regardless of which process option is utilized. This is particularly true when there are children

Kristine can assist with premarital agreements, parentage actions, post-marital agreements, dissolution and legal separation, and with...

Law Offices of Ali Yousefi was established with the vision to provide outstanding and effective service to litigants in the family law, employment law, and personal injury realms. What clients need the most during litigation are passion, professionalism and expediency. These values are the pillars of our office. At the Law Offices of Ali Yousefi, P.C., we care for peoples rights and our utmost duty is to find legal solutions that will remedy challenges you are facing with the law.

Kate Reder is an associate attorney at Wald & Thorndal. She specializes in family formation, divorce, and dissolution for both traditional and non-traditional families. Firm practice areas include: Divorce, Dissolution & Contested Parentage Actions for all families; Custody Disputes; Mediation; Marvin Actions. Legal services provided at both the TRIAL and APPELLATE level. Assisted Reproduction; Adoptions of All Kinds; Family Contracts; Parenting Law including Surrogacy; Donor Contracts for Egg and/or Sperm Donations; Pre-Nupital Agreements; Co-Parenting Agreements; Domestic Partnership Agreements; Name Changes.

The Law Office of David Reagan represents clients in Alameda County, Contra Costa County, and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in clean criminal records, defense of criminal charges, and family law. Mr. Reagan helps people fight their charges in the trial court, file for divorce and child custody, obtain expungements, seal arrest records, and reduce felonies to misdemeanors. These services are provided at affordable rates with reliable communication and strong advocacy.

Robin M. Birnbaum practices exclusively family law, having done so since 2010. Robin’s experience as a mediator, litigator and Minor’s Counsel gives her a unique perspective into the practice of family law and she is able to offer creative and strategic solutions to address the most challenging and complex family law matters, including child custody, domestic violence and support.

Robin is a Certified Family Law Specialist, having been certified by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization in July 2016. Robin is currently serving on the Executive Committee of the State Bar of California, Family Law Section...

Shelley M. Kennedy is a family law attorney and private mediator with Lawhon Law & Mediation, P.C.

Shelley's mediation practice includes high-asset dissolution of marriage matters including division of property, preparation of complex financial models, calculations for various settlement options, as well as determination of support. In addition to Shelley’s experience in financially complex matters, her practice also includes mediation for couples with smaller estates.

Shelley serves as a Settlement Conference Master for the San Francisco Unified Family Law Courts and as a volunteer attorney for the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Pro Bono Family Law Project.

Shelley has participated in over 200...

We are a small law office offering family law and divorce related services to the people of the San Francisco Bay Area. We provide individuals and families with the help they need to resolve family law issues surrounding dissolution of marriages or domestic partnerships (divorce), adoption and surrogacy, prenuptial agreements, child custody, spousal support (alimony), and offer counsel and legal services to couples contemplating marriage or domestic partnership. We pride ourselves in being able to offer resposive and personalized service at affordable rates. By eliminating the crippling overhead and high management salaries that are common among larger Bay Area law firms,...

Attorney Stratte's passion is family law. She brings significant experience with trials, highly contested dissolutions with custody, division of high value assets, and alternative dispute resolution to assist her clients with compassionate resolution of these deeply personal legal issues. In addition, she has many recent wins at long cause trials in property division, domestic violence restraining orders, custody, contempt of court and fee awards, among other successes. Attorney Stratte received her Bachelor of the Arts from the University of California Berkeley in Women's Studies, located in Berkeley, California. Thereafter, she received her professional doctorate in law from Southwestern Law School located...

Mark T. Koo’s work includes Corporate Compliance and Governance, Estate Planning, Family Law, Non-Profit Formation and setting up the 501c3 Non-profit designation. Mark also helps companies file incorporation as well as other corporate legal assistance. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mark T. Koo has been involved with Silicon Valley’s technologies such as data warehousing, wireless software and hardware technologies, and internet technologies. Mark is a graduate of McGeorge Law School and is a member of the California Bar. Mark received his bachelors of science degree in electrical engineering and masters of science degree in materials science from University of California,...

Christine M. Harney has extensive family law experience, including litigating the division of multi-million dollar estates, representing business owners or their spouses with complex forensic accounting and business valuation issues, and navigating a multitude of child-related issues involving mental health experts and attorneys for children. Christine formerly practiced family law as a partner in a Chicago, Illinois law firm before deciding to relocate with her family to California. Christine received numerous accolades during her practice in Illinois, including being selected as one of “40 under Forty” by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin in 2016; as Illinois Leading Lawyer “Emerging Lawyer”...

Ms. Szeto-Wong completed her undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley. She obtained her law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law and has been litigating civil rights, family law, and employment cases in state and federal court since 2012. Ms. Szeto-Wong has a successful track record including favorable verdicts and awards in the millions of dollars. She is bilingual in English and Cantonese.

Ashley is founder of Talbot Law Firm. As an attorney in the firm’s emerging business practice, Ashley counsels startups with incorporation, early stage financing, employment issues, intellectual property protection, technology licensing, commercial partnerships and various other corporate transactions. Ashley believes that understanding a company’s vision and priorities is important to devising strategies to solve legal problems so companies can focus on their goals. Ashley has nearly 3 years in-house experience representing entrepreneurs in a wide range of corporate, commercial and intellectual property matters. Ashley received a J.D. from University of San Francisco School of Law and a B.A. in...

Karen S. Fenchel

Professional Biography

Karen Fenchel is a sole practitioner in Walnut Creek, CA. She is a Certified Family Law Specialist and has focused on all areas of family law. Her practice is settlement oriented and includes both family law mediation and collaborative law. Karen has a strong commitment to helping clients resolve issues without going to court. She utilizes her training in both mediation and collaborative practice to assist families in crisis and help them gain control of their lives. Through mediation, collaborative process and negotiated settlements, she works toward equitable solutions that consider the...

Attorney with over 30 years of experience representing clients in Divorce and Family Law matters. Certified Specialist in Family Law, certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. My practice includes representation in all areas of divorce and family law, including child custody; child visitation; child support; spousal support ; division of community property (including high value assets); annulment; paternity; and drafting marital settlement agreements. I am also available to provide limited scope representation or consultation for self-represent parties. Representing clients throughout Contra Costa and Alameda Counties.

I am a San Francisco Divorce Attorney who has done Family Law/divorce cases for more than seventeen years. I have done hundreds of Family Law hearings, rather than just a few. I have had cases in every county in the Bay Area. An experienced attorney, like myself, can make a huge difference in the outcome of your family law situation. Call me at 415.240.9953 and I will give you an immediate free telephone consultation. You can text me at 415.240.9953. I do traditional representation and "Limited Scope." With Limited Scope, there is no large up front retainer. You just pay as...

Anne M. Whatley has been practicing family law for over 20 years, and has experience in all aspects, including divorce, custody, support, pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements, domestic violence, and any other family law issue.

Inez Kim, Attorney at Law specializes in representing individuals in various areas of law. She is known for her mission to take a genuine interest in her clients and bring fast resolutions. Her clients appreciate her immediate feedback and strong communication skills. She understands the uniqueness of each cases and meets the clients' expectations. She also holds an MBA degree and bring to the table real world business experience. She is dedicated to bring commitment, integrity and positive results for all her clients.

Anne has dedicated her career as an attorney to serving families with compassion and a strong emphasis on public service. A graduate of U.C. Berkeley and Hastings College of Law, Anne has specialized in public interest law through her work in immigration, domestic violence and family law. Anne began her career as a Presidential Management Intern working on the area of international adoption and immigration-related family violence issues. She went on to launch two successful legal services programs focused on the family. She has continued to serve families through her practice in family law,...

Deborah H. Wald is the founder and managing partner at The Wald Law Group. A Certified Family Law Specialist*, her work has evolved over the past 27 years from a part-time home-based family formation law practice to a multi-disciplinary full service family law firm. Ms. Wald's goal is to ensure that all individuals, families and children coming to The Wald Law Group receive the highest quality legal protections available. (*Certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.) In addition to a strong general knowledge of family law, Ms. Wald has three specific areas of...

I have been exclusively practicing Family Law in California since 1993. I launched my own practice in 1996 and became a Certified Family Law Specialist since 2002. I an certified by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. I practice in the Bay Area and Central Valley in California

Attorney Keith F. Carr has over 30 years experience in Bankruptcy and Divorce. The Law Offices of Keith F. Carr has served the Northern California community since 1988. Since the business was established, we have helped clients save their homes and businesses and get their finances back on track through bankruptcy. The Law Offices of Keith F. Carr has helped spouses get through the emotional pain of divorce and has advised and represented them in all family law and divorce proceedings. Attorney Keith F. Carr will take the time to listen to your concerns and work diligently to champion your...