Christina C. Van Ness

Christina Van Ness will not disappoint. She is quick, smart, professional, honest, and cares what happens to you. I cannot say enough great things about her. Men don’t fair well in family law, and I believe because of Christina, I won everything she went after. I loved that Christina wouldn’t ...allow me to have unreasonable expectations. And I really appreciated how she tried to control how many hours she spent on things…example, my ex’s attorney would try and argue over email and was completely unreasonable, so after that first interaction, Christina knew it was just a waste of time and decided to set up in person meetings to try and accomplish things in the most effective way. She was also very knowledgeable about the judges in the Contra Costa system. This was very helpful in what we decided to go after in court versus what we tried to negotiate out of court, knowing certain things we would probably loose in court. An example would be she negotiated a lump sum spousal support payout knowing my ex would jump at a large sum of money and also knowing the judge we had would have award her supposal support indefinitely due to a long term marriage. There were times I was freaking out during this process. Christina went out of her way, during off hours, to help me calm down and get me back on track and helped me focus on what was important. That to me, in a very scary situation, was above and beyond her scope but made all the difference in how stressful or less stressful my life looked in the year she worked with me. Christina was able to tell me the exact outcome I could expect when we first sat down. There were some variations that she detailed depending on what judge and how my ex chose to respond but in the end, a year later, what she said would happen is exactly what happened. I chose Christina based on a high recommendation and I’m so grateful I did. She was worth ever penny I spent and I will be eternally grateful she came into my life.

Seven years ago, I filed for divorce and spent time and lots of money with multiple lawyers who just kept spinning my wheels...I called Christina Van Ness after getting her phone number from the internet, it was the best call I ever made!! First of all, she answered the phone and I didn't have to wa...it 2-3 days for a return phone call... Christina is one of the utmost professional, ethical and fair lawyers I've ever met, she understands family law, she holds strong relationships within the Contra Costa County court system and goes above and beyond for her clients. When I first started working with Christina, I had less than 30% custody of my children, I was paying over $2,000 in child/spousal support and 50% of all daycare and additional add-ons along with the possibility of losing a percentage of my military retirement. Because of Christina's strategic approach, I now have 100% sole legal custody of my children, I have primary custody, I pay no spousal/child support, and she got my ex-wife to sign-off on my military retirement. She's strategic, she's creative in her approach, she's ethical and most importantly she puts herself in your shoes! I have already referred friends and family to Christina Van Ness and I will continue to do so...she's an amazing family law attorney!

When I decided to finally leave a very controlling husband after being married for 21 years, I contacted several lawyers in the Walnut Creek area. My case was somewhat difficult since we had been married in Germany and there was a post-nuptial agreement involved. The case was further complicated by... the fact that the opposing side was not cooperating at all and so it turned out to become a bitter divorce. When I called the law firm O’Brien and Sullivan, Christina Van Ness picked up the phone and gave me clear and well-founded advice about how best to deal with my particular situation and she was willing to take my case. From the beginning Christina worked tirelessly on my case as if I were her only client, though she had other cases at the same time. She was always available by phone, email and in person whenever I needed to get in touch with her and would always get back to me in time, often even after hours or on weekends. Since my case involved international and German law, she had to contact lawyers in Germany and literally was involved in my case around the clock. Christina is very knowledgeable and she covered all bases from nuptials to international law and in particular German family law, contracting with and securing experts in this field from a law firm in Munich, Germany and their office in Miami, Florida as well as another California expert and a court approved translator in Southern California to make sure to present my unusual case clearly and correctly to the judge. The opposing counsel kept filing erratic motions just to keep us busy and to discourage me from going through with the divorce, e.g. she scheduled all of my German in-laws to appear in court to testify just hear-say against me and was even going to put my teenage daughter on the witness stand, something I could not allow. This created enormous pressure for me and I have to admit I almost lost it. I really felt Christina was not only on my side but she also respected my wishes, namely to save my daughter from what would have been a terrible experience for her. Christina said she would never do something like that and that this was highly inappropriate to do. I knew I could trust her and simply follow her advice. We won every segment in the legal process that we had to go through and we were able to settle the day before the actual court date which had been scheduled on a Monday morning at 8:00 am. Christina worked on the settlement proposal with the opposing lawyer all weekend and until after midnight before that court date to get this done. I’d also like to point out that Christina Van Ness and Ed Sullivan work very closely together on their individual cases in their firm and so I had the advantage of having Ed’s expertise of more than 20 years of family law experience also contributing to my case. Both Christina and Ed are trustworthy lawyers of high integrity and ethical standard. I recommend Christina Van Ness and Ed Sullivan to all my friends and anyone who needs a divorce lawyer.

Ms. Van Ness helped me with my divorce in 2012 (finalized in May 2013). She never wasted my time, handled my case quickly (any delay was caused by my ex which I expected) and was never more than a text message or a prompt email reply away. Although my divorce was not a scarring experience, like any... other it was unpleasant and highly contentious at times. When I found myself emotionally drained by my ex and the process itself, ready to throw in the towel and give in to my ex's demands, Ms. Van Ness knew exactly how to talk me down and explain I was not making the best decision at that very moment. She always made me feel like I was actively participating in my own case. We often brainstormed strategies together on how to move forward with the negotiations. I work in business and have dealt with other types of attorneys in the past (real estate, probate, bankruptcy) and often times you feel like lawyers are telling you what to do. This lawyer takes the time to educate you on the law, give you her opinion of how to proceed and listen and reason through your own suggestions. It was a collaborative experience and I cannot begin to explain how important that was to me. Divorce is unlike any other type of legal trouble you'll be in because it's closely tied to emotions. My best advice is that you spend a significant amount of time searching for the right divorce attorney. If you are like me (I have 2 kids ages 3 and 7), you will need your divorce attorney in the future as your kids grow up and custody problems/issues arise that you cannot solve amicably with your ex. This is something that had not occurred to me until Ms. Van Ness pointed it out in our initial free consult. I realized then that she was right, she and I were going to have a long term professional relationship because my kids were young enough where it was safe to assume I was going to need her in the future. So, per her recommendation I interviewed others. In fact, I interviewed 5 other attorneys, total of 6 including her, before I came back to retain her because she had given me the confidence I needed to move forward with my decision. To this day I am so glad I was referred to her by a friend of a friend and I sleep well at night knowing she'll be there for me in the future if I need her.