Our family law practice includes litigation, appeals, mediation, and private case management. We prepare prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. We offer consulting services to our clients who are attending mediation with a third professional and to other attorneys.

We understand that many family law matters involve both financial issues and issues related to the continuing parent/child and co-parenting relationship. We believe that the financial issues and parenting issues should be addressed in distinct ways since each reflects a very different constellation of issues, worries, concerns, and legal standards.

We have many years of experience litigating complex community property problems. Our analysis and representation have included the characterization, tracing, division, or valuation of a wide range of assets and businesses. These include various assets and investments, unique current or deferred compensation for personal services, stock option or restricted stock grants, venture capital enterprises or partnership interests, real estate developments or investment companies, and manufacturing, retailing, warehousing, wholesaling, investment, and service businesses.

We utilize or collaborate with other professionals as consultants or experts when appropriate. These other professionals may be accountants, economists, business valuators, business consultants, brokers, appraisers, auctioneers, psychologists, or attorneys from other practice areas or jurisdictions. We also collaborate with our clients’ other professionals.

We represent parties in co-parenting or custody disputes. We believe that each family has unique emotional or psychological needs that affect the parties and their children. We also believe that the assistance of a mental health expert may provide support for our clients as they go through a difficult transition and may help ameliorate the impact on the child or children of our clients’ dissolving relationship. We also refer to mental health experts to assist us and our clients in understanding what is in the best interests of the child or children.

Our legal services in co-parenting and custody matters will vary depending upon the most constructive approach for our client’s family or the legal necessities created by our client’s particular problems. This may include assisting our client to manage the transition from a single household to two households in a decent and constructive way for the child or children. This could include representing a client emerging from or participating in a high-conflict dispute with the other parent on matters related to the child or children. In some instances, we may be involved in cases in which one of the parents wishes to move-away with the child or children from the locus of the parties’ marriage and residence. From time to time, the dispute may include international custody questions involving Hague Convention or non-Hague Convention countries.

HFLP does appellate work. We have appeared before the Appellate Courts of California, the Supreme Court of California, and the Supreme Court of Vermont. We do the trial and appellate work for our clients and are available as appellate counsel in matters we have not handled at the trial level.

Our firm does transactional work for parties entering into intimate relationships or seeking to make agreements after the marriage has occurred. This work may include prenuptial agreements or post-nuptial agreements. These documents are as varied as the needs of our clients and, while we attempt to draft in accordance with current concepts of enforceability, always are provided subject to the warning that efficacy can not be guaranteed and is subject to future changes in the law or a future court’s equitable ideas of fairness or fair dealing.

Mediation is part of our practice. We provide mediation services to couples when appropriate. Some of our clients are attending mediation and using our services as outside consultants.

Case management is utilized for complex cases in which there is a high probability of volatility or high motivation to cooperate and the marital estate involved substantial assets or complex property questions. A private judge is retained and the parties agree to a procedure for dispute resolution either by voluntary ongoing settlement discussions or trial of discrete issues that are a threshold to settlement.

Our firm provides pro bono services.