Mark Ressa

Mark Ressa was admitted to the California in 1979 and Federal Bar in 1985. He is a CFLS, Certified Legal Specialist in Family Law by the California Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.

He limits his practice exclusively to family law matters including complex litigation, spousal and child support, paternity, high conflict custody disputes and domestic violence. His office is located in San Ramon and practices primarily in the Bay Area counties.

He is a member of the Family Law Executive Committee (FLEXCOM) of the California State Bar (2008-2014) and its immediate past Chair (2012-2013), Vice-Chair (2011-2012), Legislation Chair (2010-2011), Vice Legislation Chair (2009-2010), Editor of the Family Law Section's eNews (2008-2010) and Vice-Chair for the Family Law Section's Online Continuing Education (2008-2009). He is a member of the State Bar Social Media Task Force (2010-2013) that was responsible for in launching FaceBook™ and Twitter™ sites for the State Bar Sections. Prior to his appointment to FLEXCOM, he served as Chair (2006-2008) and Vice-Chair (2005-2006) of the State Bar Family Law Section’s Bay Area Regional Standing Committee, formerly known as Financial Issues North. He is a member of the state and local bar associations.

He is also a Board and Executive Committee (ExCom) Member of the ACFLS (Association for Certified Family Law Specialist) for 2013-2014. He is the Co Vice-Chair of the Council of Sections of the California State Bar (2013-2014) and Co-Chair of the Council of Sections of the California State Bar (2014-2015)

Mark Ressa was chosen for inclusion in the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Northern California Super Lawyers™. Super Lawyers™ is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. He has also been featured as a 2011, 2012, and 2013 ‘Top Attorneys in Northern California – Selected by Peer Recognition and Professional Achievement’ as published in the San Francisco Magazine. He received Avvo’s – Superb Rated Attorney (10.0) for years 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Mr. Ressa created and marketed the first Windows™ based child / spousal support calculation program to be certified for court use by the California Judicial Council; i.e., SupportPro™ from 1994 to 1998. He served with other software providers, including family law luminaries Steve Adams, Garrett Dailey and George Norton, to advise the California Judicial Council on the standards to be applied for the use of software in courtrooms. Mr. Ressa co-founded Legal dot Net in 1995, internationally recognized as one of the first leading web sites to serve the needs of legal consumers as well as legal professionals (rated an Internet Business 500 – The Top Essential Sites for Business in 1995).

Mr. Ressa’s interest in social media has resulted in one of the most followed Twitter™ sites for a practicing attorney, @BayAreaDivorce with over 260 thousand followers and #1 on the “Top 100 Lawyers to Follow on Twitter” list for twelve consecutive months (July 2013 – June 2014).

Mr. Ressa has appeared in local media – KTVU Channel 2, “Valentine’s Day is not just for love, but for divorce” February 16, 2014 and KGO ABC7, “Texts Show [Nadia} Lockyer’s Ex-Boyfriend Struggling” on December 13, 2012. He as been quoted in the press, New York Post “Halle [Berry] ex fight for kid hurt” on November 24, 2012 and Mercury News “Nadia Lockyer’s restraining order against former lover expires while she remains in drug treatment” on December 13, 2012. He has also appeared on NPR Radio, KALW 91.7FM San Francisco June 2014, “Alternative Resolution Methods for Divorce Including Mediation and Private Judging” and January 2011, “Urban Divorce Myths.”