About Us
A qualified attorney/mediator you can
trust
Julia M. Garwood is a San Diego County family law
attorney and mediator who is also a Certified Family Law Specialist. This designation
tells you that Ms Garwood has met the rigorous standards set by the California State Bar
for education, experience, and knowledge in the field.
In the same way marriage should be based on trust, so
should your relationship with your attorney. It’s a two-way street: you have to feel
comfortable with your attorney, and he or she has to feel comfortable with you. Ms Garwood
treats her client like her sister, her brother, herself.
The experience and assurance you need
Ms Garwood is also a former adjunct professor at a
local law school, where she taught professional responsibility to future lawyers.
"I’ve seen it all," she says. "I know what’s reasonable. I know
the judges, and I usually know how they’re going to react to a case. Many of them
also trust me to such an extent that they know if I’m putting something in front of
them to sign, they can feel comfortable doing so because I’m not going to give them
something that’s unacceptable. It is the same when I argue in front of them." As
an acting settlement judge and an attorney who is often chosen by the courts to represent
minor children, Ms. Garwood prefers to settle her cases amicably, however, she will listen
to her client when tempering the strategy of her case.
A unique blend of experience,
knowledge, and intuition.
At the initial consultation, Ms. Garwood typically
will first ask if you have any major issues you’d like to talk about. Ms. Garwood
will go through your assets and explore any issues that may exist with regards to the
children -- then she will tell you what you can expect. She usually knows but will also
get to know the opposing side (if she doesn’t) as well, so she’ll know how to
best handle the case. She has a sixth sense. Once she is told a couple of things, she can
usually tell how the opposing party will react. This helps her to strategize the case.
Then she gets into what you want. At this time, Ms. Garwood will recommend a complete
course of action for you, whether that involves traditional litigation, mediation, or
Collaborative Law. If it changes, it changes, but this approach works best. She has honed
her skills over the years and is able to take what she has learned and maximize the
benefits for her clients. She then explains the process to you and tells you what you can
expect.
Compassionate yet aggressive
Ms. Garwood will partner with you to help you through
the strain of the divorce process. You’ll work as a team. She knows that any good
attorney in San Diego County will mediate or settle a case if they can, so clients can get
on with their lives. But when the other side is being irrational or appears to be
unwilling to settle, Ms. Garwood is not afraid to take the case to court.
Many attorneys are afraid to go to court. Ms Garwood
is not. She is not going to waste her time and your money trying to settle something
that’s not going to settle. She’ll keep pushing the case, and if it settles,
great, if not, she’ll go to court. "It has been my experience that most people
want the case over so they are very happy that the case has been going through the court
processes, should settlement negotiations irretrievably break down."
Supporting you to be an emotional
winner
According to Ms. Garwood a successful divorce is when
you can walk away after it’s all over, and still meet that person on the street and
greet them. If you have children, a successful divorce is one where you can go to your
child’s wedding and treat one another with respect in front of the children.
"I’m not saying you will be best friends with your former spouse. I am just
pointing out that, emotionally, you have moved on in a good, non self-destructive
way."
What sets this firm apart is that we quietly do very good
work. "Our win rate is overwhelming." Ms Garwood tells her clients that there
are emotional losers and emotional winners in divorce. She tries to make sure her clients
are all emotional winners. |
