Tessa Frances Mayer Briggs

Experience:

Mrs. Briggs has been a litigator since 2011, successfully representing her clients in countless child support (including Department of Child Support Services cases), spousal support, custody, visitation, property division, paternity and divorce matters. She has no preference for representing either male or female clients in custody matters, requiring only that her client has the child's best interests at heart and strives to be the best parent possible.  She has represented clients with both modest and substantial asset cases. 

Mrs. Briggs became a Certified Family Law Specialist (as Certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization) in 2016. Before moving to Monterey area she practiced in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Shasta, Glenn, Butte, and Tehama Counties. Although Mrs. Briggs prides herself on her high settlement rate, she also advocates aggressively for her clients and believes the best outcomes are possible when clients are very well-informed of the potential benefits and risks of every litigation decision. She has been mentored virtually her entire career by other Certified Family Law Specialists.

Education & Admissions:

Mrs. Briggs earned her Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from California State University, Sacramento in 2006 where she appeared on the Dean's Honor Roll numerous times. She received her law degree in 2009 from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law where she was awarded Top Honors in Trial Advocacy.  She was admitted to the California Bar Association in 2010 and became a Certified Family Law Specialist in 2016.  

She has taken, and continues to take, as much continuing legal education as possible to serve the needs of her current clientelle.  This includes full day(s) of continuing legal education on strategies related to divorce taxation; discovery; depositions; child custody/visitation; and characterization of assets and debts in complex cases.  She has also met the minimum standards for practice before a Juvenile Court in California and is Certified as such in some local counties although that is not a focus of her practice.

Community Affiliations:

Mrs. Briggs is a member of the Monterey County Bar Association, the California Bar Association, and the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists (ACFLS). She is on the ACFLS’s outreach committee for Monterey County. Prior to fulfilling a lifelong dream to relocate to Monterey County, Mrs. Briggs was the Committee Chair of the Shasta-Trinity Bar Association Family Law Committee, was on the Board of Directors for Tehama Head Start, and spent several years as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate for foster children).