Constantin Zhukovsky

I will refrain from going into deep details of my case for several reasons. Largely because that would involve me disclosing very unpleasant details about my former spouse, which I’m not willing to do. My painful marriage and its aftermath has stripped me of many things, however basic human decency a...nd dignity were not among them and that is in part because I chose Constantine as my attorney. My marriage was less than five years, no kids, no mortgage. Potentially simple divorce that was made rather complicated by my ex and her family. Rather than just peacefully setting our affairs in order and going our separate ways my wife decided to slap me with a demand for spousal support, demanding a ridiculous and unprecedented amount of money she clearly knew I did not have. I spent the last two years of our marriage supporting myself, my wife and her rather expensive tastes and habits and by the time we separated was practically broke. None of that mattered to my ex who simply decided that milking me for as long as possible was a much better way of financial "stability" rather than making an effort to take control of her life. I heard about Constantin and his various success stories through a grapevine and by the time I came to see him I was ready to do everything within the boundaries of the law to fight back. At that point I no longer cared how much I can potentially hurt myself or the other party in the process. I was blinded with anger and was fixated on revenge rather than justice. If I went to someone with less experience, less desire for fairness and justice, I am sure I would have potentially made mistakes that I would regret for years to come. Not only from financial, but also from human standpoint. To make the story short: Constantin patiently listened to my story and explained to me all my options, potential outcomes and legal fees right there and then. No hidden stuff, no gimmicks, no BS. After the initial consultation that lasted about two hours, I left Constantin’s office with a clear head and a solid plan that would serve the best interest of everyone involved starting with me. Throughout the case Constantine not only provided legal counsel and help, but actually took time to give me a call now and then simply to see how I was doing and provided abundant moral and emotional support. The time between when we filed court paperwork and the time we settled was approximately three month. Through Constantin’s outstanding negotiation skills, we came up with the solution which both parties could live with. I got away with a lump sum consisting roughly of one fifth of what my ex-wife was originally asking. Now, for all of you ladies out there writing blood-chilling horrifying reviews of Constantin being a woman-hating chauvinist and so on and so forth, here is the fact: my ex-wife who has never seen or personally communicated with Mr. Zhukovskiy prior to our court date, was so impressed with Constantin’s professional and humane approach that she asked for his card and considers using him as a legal counsel on professional matters. Enough said.

Constantine held me through painful longtime marriage divorce. My previous lawyer did not have enough of courage, experience, and confidence to withstand unreasonable demands and attacks on me. When I full of frustration came to Constantine office my now ex-wife demanded 50% of what I was making as a... spousal support indefinitely, plus 100% custody of our child and child support, plus $30k of her attorneys fee. Constantine took the situation under the control and eventually we reached agreement. The aftermath is: no lifetime court jurisdiction; I am paying to my ex-wife 25% of what I am making now for the next 3 years; no child support; I am paying $7K of her attorneys fee; I highly recommend Constantine!

Despite having the simplest case one can possibly imagine (no minors, no real estate, no businesses, only earned incomes, and liquid assets), it turned into 3.5 year ordeal costing both sides over 200K of legal fees. Such is life when one side acts irrationally (and cycles through three attorneys, ne...xt more vicious and unscrupulous than a previous one) and takes you hostage in the process. Extremely upset and frustrated with my first inept and indifferent attorney, I asked my social network connections to send me references to family attorneys which they had been happy with. To my surprise I got almost universal response along the lines: “I can not honestly recommend my attorney” with degree of dissatisfaction varying from “mediocre” to “mindless screw-up”. But then, I got a fateful breakthrough : I met Constantine Zhukovsky ! After the first 15 minutes, my desperation was transformed into a hope and awe. That initial impression did not disappoint: the next 6 months of working with him on driving my case to a swift and satisfying closure only reinforced my observation that Mr. Zhukovsky is both a professional and a human being in a class of his own. Not only he has superb knowledge of the Family Code, precedents, and procedural intricacies, not only he is very proactive with choosing and executing optimal legal strategies, but most of all he CARES about his clients, and he strives to leverage awkward, clumsy and morally inept family court system in order to solve problems and conflicts created by a painful relationship break in just and fair manner, not only in legal, but also in moral way. For my specific situation Mr. Zhukovsky found a tradeoff which maximized long-term peace of mind for me, and managed to convince the opposing side that it is satisfactory solution for them as well. (using sound (not only logically but also psychologically) reasoning and smart procedural tactics) He also managed to accomplish that in as little time and legal fees as was practical, by avoiding an impending trial and driving the case to a settlement. As opposed to huge amount of legal fees generated by my previous attorney and all the experts that the opposing side forced us to employ, I felt that every dollar spent on Mr. Zhukovsky’s services. Given that my marriage was of “long duration” (over 10 years), if my case was decided via a court trial I would have ended up having to pay life-long spousal support and, even more troublesome, being vulnerable to a possibility of ongoing future legal harassment by my ex- and her monstrous attorney (because the court would have had “indefinite jurisdiction” over my case). Mr. Zhukovsky explained to me all the dangers and legal pitfalls which might haunt me for the rest of my life, and suggested a strategy which would protect me from these risks. He then brilliantly executed on this strategy leaving me 100% satisfied with both the process and the result. The bottom line is: if (G-d forbid) anyone approaches me asking for a family attorney recommendation, I can wholeheartedly recommend Mr. Zhukovsky as their best bet.

Before I met Constantine I was represented by different attorney, who basically ruined my divorce case by submitting to every demand of the opposite side and not doing his homework on my case. My daughter was taken hostage by my Ex. Suddenly, after years of bond and good "father-daughter" relat...ionship, my daughter "decided" not to have any contacts with me and my side of the family...Reason is very simple, less time Father spends with his children MORE in child support he has to pay to "the custodial parent"- Mother, just holds the child "hostage" and using her to EXTORT more money from "the non-custodial" parent - Father. I was paying almost $4,500 per month in child and spousal support to my ex-spouse which was literally ruining me financially, and meantime my Ex was purposely unemployed or underemployed during separation process as well as held our daughter hostage, severing our bond and preventing all contacts between me and my child. I became desperate: I was NOT able to comply with the Support order I was given by the Court, I was falling further and further behind in my support payments. I came to consult Constantine in his office one evening, he listened to me, he explained to me Family Law principles; he stressed how important to restore and keep contact between Father and child for the sake of my child. Very unfortunately my employment was ended by employer (downsizing). I needed to modify the amount of support I was ordered to pay when I had my employment. My Ex opposed any changes. I consulted Constantine again he explained me what needs to be done to modify support in my situation and gave me "homework" to get prepared for our next court hearing. During our hearing on 10/15/2014 in Martinez Family Court on issue of my request for support modification Constantine undertook to represent me. He showed brilliant skills as a family law attorney and as a public speaker. To make long story short, as result of Constantine's work my payments in both child and spousal support were reduced by almost 85%. I highly recommend Constantine Zhukovsky - he is honest, skillful and he will fight for you and your Children to the end! Keep relationship with your children! Do not let them to be held hostages by vindictive Ex; it will ruin the lives of your children for good...

Soon after my separation nearly two years ago, I was in the desperate situation of not being able to see my daughter (my ex-wife restricted visitation more and more, to the point where she only allowed me rare, supervised visits with our daughter, and only at her home). A friend referred me to Co...nstantine, and I am glad that I went with his recommendation. Constantine is an effective, hard-working and extremely knowledgeable attorney, but also (and this is the part which seems especially difficult to find) a remarkably decent, honest man. I hired Constantine immediately after our first meeting -- but it was also obvious from the start that he does not take on just *any* client. Our initial interview seemed unusual because he wanted to make sure that everything I say is the truth. He warned me that he doesn't represent people who are just trying to take advantage of the legal system to get money, custody (or worse) from their ex-spouses. Almost immediately after our first meeting, Constantine got to work. He said that minimizing litigation should always be a priority for all cooperatively-inclined divorcees; so, the first thing he did was to propose a settlement conference (it should also be noted that thereafter, this was offered to my ex-wife and her legal teams on countless occasions). However, it soon became clear that my ex has no inclination of ever agreeing to any kind of joint legal or physical custody arrangements. So, Constantine set up a neutral, court-appointed mediation session (this action was also contested fiercely in court by my ex-wife and her counsel). During the many nights we spent together working on my case, I found out (through Constantine's actions) that he would never do anything to compromise his integrity. He only took on my case when he was sure that my number one priority was to be a father to my daughter. While my ex-wife interviewed countless attorneys, and switched three during the course of the divorce proceedings (each preceding one was not "aggressive" enough, as I later found out), Constantine remained my counsel ever since our first meeting. His determination and efforts to help me were consistent during this entire time, as he worked tirelessly (often, nights and weekends) on my case. Finally, after many delays, the court appointed mediator issued her report, in which she outlined her recommendations for joint legal and physical custody. Unfortunately, after receiving these mediator's recommendations, my ex-wife instead immediately filed a restraining order against me, citing false allegations of domestic violence and abuse. During the eventual three-day trial, her entire family testified against me in this regard. Constantine remained by my side and defended my fiercely against these false allegations. When everything was said and done, the court dismissed ALL charges against me, removed the restraining order AND issued an order adopting the mediator's recommendations for joint legal and physical custody of our daughter. Thanks to Constantine's constant efforts to fight for the best interests of my daughter and me, I now have joint legal custody and two visits each week, including one overnight. The mediator's recommendations have been adopted by the court, and I can expect the visitation times to expand even more in the months to come. Since the beginning, my number one goal has always been to be a father to my little girl. Constantine made that happen - and I will always be grateful to him.