JWB Family Law

Jane and her team are absolutely amazing. I had a different attorney previously, but with an aggressive ex who wouldn't negotiate with me to settle, but who did send lots of verbally abusive messages, I needed a new attorney who could bring this to a close. We had a settlement conference scheduled a few weeks out when I hired her, and she and her team got prepared in that short time - they'd done several months of work in a few weeks. The mediator at the conference commented on how expert her brief was - only experts produce work like that in short timeframes. She knew exactly what she was doing in the conference and I couldn't be more thrilled with the outcome. She was on my side, her team was so great, and the outcome for me was so much better than I expected. 100% recommend this firm - especially if you have a high conflict divorce like mine. She'll handle it.

I had a really difficult family law case.  My ex was trying to take away my kids. I did what any dad would do in this situation. I started looking for the best family law attorney near me. I found Jane Wesley Brooks (JWB) because she was listed as one of the top family lawyers in San Diego Magazine. I figured, Jane should be able to help me with my child custody case. Boy, I couldn't have been more mistaken. Jane pushed me off onto one of the other attorneys at her practice, Jessica Pederson. Jessica said all the right things at first. Hit all the right buzz words. Told me she would be aggressive. She was Pro Dads. She believed in Dad Rights. She believed in equal coparenting. She was fighting for my kids. So I signed the retainer. When it came down to our actual custody case, Jessica played softball. She actually told me to just agree with unfair and inappropriate things my ex was doing. Which meant that my ex acted with impunity, and did even more things to make my life miserable.  And our children’s lives miserable.  Any average attorney would have filed a Temporary Restraining Order, or TRO, against my ex, considering how she was acting towards our children.  Not Jessica.  Jessica likes to just plug along, allow terrible things to happen, and drag things out as long as she can.  She doesn’t believe that there can be Domestic Violence by a mom against her children.  Jessica pretends she is a Domestic Violence Lawyer, but she doesn’t act like it. Then there is the billing. JWB does something that (A LOT) of family law attorneys do: she over bills and triple bills. I would send one email, and be charged by 3 different people. My attorney would read the email (.2 hours), then hand it off to the paralegal to read my email (.2 hours), then hand it off to the secretary to read and categorize the email (.2 hours). Then my attorney would respond to my email, and ask me another question. The whole email chain would take 5 or 6 replies to get anywhere, meanwhile, I was billed for each email, when the reality is the total amount of time it should have taken for this one simple task should have been 0.2 hours TOTAL. Not 0.2 x 3 x 5 = 1.5 hours. It adds up. Sadly, in my research, I found a few other San Diego attorneys do this, so my advice to any Dad looking for a divorce attorney, is to do your research and make sure they aren't over billing you, or triple billing you the way Jane does. Then came the alimony and child support part of our custody case. An average alimony lawyer, or child support attorney, would fight for their client.  Not JWB.  Here, Jane sent me very aggressive emails, saying that I had to "disclose all of my finances", and if I didn't, I would be hit with a "motion to compel", which Jane said was very bad. So I disclosed everything. My ex didn't. My kids’ mom gave us no verifiable income, and documents that had been clearly altered. When I asked Jane to get more information, and find out my ex's true income, I was brushed off, and told to just accept what my ex-wife had forged. The real reason that Jane wants you to "disclose everything", is that Jane and Jessica want to know your total worth, so that they can wet their lips and milk you for everything your worth. Which she did.  JWB is not an honest child support lawyer.  She is in it for herself. The worst part of the entire case, was how because Jessica played softball with my ex, my case dragged on for years, with small incremental changes mostly going against me. I was too scared to fire my family attorney, out of fear that I would LOSE MY KIDS! No dad wants to do that. JWB knows this, so they milk you for everything your worth, and could honestly care less about your personal case.

Your firm’s professionalism was appreciated. In my industry I work with quite a few people who have gone through divorce. They usually don’t have many good things to say about their attorneys. But I’m happy to tell them I fortunately found a law firm that seemed well organized, responsive, transparent in billing and always gave me realistic expectations. I also felt pretty confident if we weren’t able to settle and had to go to court, that I would be more than adequately represented. In the RFO, Jessica seemed like she was light years ahead of opposing counsel. Prepared, Composed etc to the point that I think even the Judge made a comment complimenting her attention to detail. Something about a schedule, it’s not an entirely clear memory. But on the other side, opposing counsel stammered through what she had to say, and seemed unorganized. Divorce is expensive and I would have been thoroughly irritated if I had retained counsel that performed in that manner. Thank you to the Paralegals and Legal Assistants for being on top of it too. My attention to detail wasn’t great but yours was so thank you for ensuring accuracy. I appreciated Mareva reaching out to answer questions she could as a Paralegal and therefore getting me an answer at a less expensive hourly rate. I think between my two jobs I forgot to respond to some emails and one of your assistants texted me to ensure compliance. Divorce wasn’t fun but your law firm seemed to make it as painless as possible.

Jane is the most helpful, direct, and reasonable attorney that I have been counseled by for my divorce. She’s also the only one who came highly recommended by multiple non-related contacts. She explained extremely complicated processes so clearly and kindly while taking into account the many nuances and layers involved in my difficult case. I’ve also been impressed with the promptness of communication with her office. Overall this is an extremely knowledgeable and reasonable office which feels so hard to find.

I have know JWB for at least 12 years and she is always professional and straightforward when it comes to Family Law. I would categorize her as a force to be reckoned with and you could't ask for a better attorney in your corner. With over 16 years of legal experience, she and her team are well-rounded, resourceful and more than capable of meeting your Family Law needs. I can honestly say that after serving 28 years in the military, I would trust JWB with my life! When someone ask me to recommend a Family Law Attorney, there is only one answer, JWB Law.