Child Custody and Visitation Attorney in Los Angeles, California
What advice do you have for parents involved in a high conflict custody dispute?
What advice do you have for parents involved in a high conflict custody dispute?
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our office specializes in all sorts of
high conflict custody disputes they can
be anything from relocation cases
to substance abuse cases
to domestic violence cases
to alienation cases which means when one
parent
has actively interfered with the other
parents relationship with the children i
have had cases where
all four of those things exist and the
more
weighty the case is and the more complex
and
messy the facts are the more we love to
handle those kind of cases
it’s very easy
to
divide
equity in a house or if you have
typical kids who don’t have special
needs and the parents are both good
enough parents to work out a good time
share arrangement but it takes a unique
attorney to work with
very unfavorable facts to try to get
the best resolution for your client
and i’m the type of person because i’m
so competitive and
i love winning as do most of my
competitors who practice at my level but
i think after 40 years i’ve realized you
can’t win every case a hundred percent
so if you win some of the issues
then that’s that’s good enough
and i think that clients come to our
firm
for complex
custody cases and high conflict custody
cases because we’re known for it because
they know that we’re not afraid to try a
case we’re not afraid to litigate we
will take a case
to court even if
it’s not a winner and other attorneys
have turned it away
i have had many attorneys refer me cases
where a client is actively using and
they wash their hands and they’ve said
to me i can’t deal with this client
she’s using cocaine and what i try to do
is say to them if you don’t change
you are going to lose custody of your
child and is that what you really want
to do i don’t think a lot of attorneys
are willing to do that and i think a lot
of attorneys are fearful
of presenting a very challenging case to
a judge for fear that the the judge is
going to think negatively about them
it’s like representing a criminal client
who has committed a horrific act
everybody deserves
representation and they deserve strong
and effective representation
regardless of who they are and it’s up
to the attorney to choose what your
limit is
but once you’re representing that client
you have to give them 100 of your
efforts because they deserve that so
that’s what i’m kind of guided by too so
i revel in those kind of cases and what
i try to do is
try to show the judge
yes this is a messy case yes my client
isn’t a perfect parent no one’s a
perfect parent but under the facts and
the law
this is what he or she is entitled to
Los Angeles, CA family law attorney Lisa Helfend Meyer shares her advice for parents involved in a high conflict custody dispute. She shares that her office specializes in high-conflict custody disputes, ranging from relocation and substance abuse cases to domestic violence and parental alienation, where one parent actively interferes with the other’s relationship with the children. She has handled cases involving all of these factors simultaneously, and she thrives on managing complex, messy situations. While it can be relatively straightforward to divide equity in a house or arrange parenting time for children without special needs, it takes a uniquely skilled attorney to navigate highly unfavorable facts and achieve the best possible outcome for a client.
She describes herself as highly competitive and driven, but after 40 years of practice, she recognizes that it’s not possible to win every issue completely. Securing success on some key points can be enough. Clients come to her firm specifically for complex, high-conflict custody cases because they know she is unafraid to litigate, even when other attorneys have turned the case away. She recalls instances where clients struggle with substance abuse, and while many attorneys might shy away, she confronts the issue directly, encouraging clients to make changes or face consequences regarding custody.
She emphasizes that all clients, regardless of circumstances, deserve strong and effective representation. Once an attorney takes on a case, they must commit fully, advocating zealously within the bounds of the law. She relishes challenging cases and focuses on presenting them to the judge clearly: acknowledging the complexities and imperfections of the parents involved while demonstrating what her client is legally entitled to under the facts.
