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!