Joel Hillson Tranter

I am a Berkeley native. I moved to New York after high school and spent most of the next 15 years there, first in college, then the workforce, and finally in law school.

In the middle of that period, I returned to Berkeley to get a master's degree in city planning from Cal and work as a city planner in Sonoma.

After moving back to New York and working in city planning for five years there, I decided to try something else. Law school had never been on my radar, but I discovered that it was a perfect fit for me. I didn't want to leave New York, however, and I was fortunate enough to be admitted to the Benjamin N. Cardozo School Law, located at 5th Avenue and 12th Street in Manhattan. I enrolled in 2002 and graduated in 2005.

After finishing law school, I moved back to Berkeley. I have been working as a lawyer since 2006. I have had my own practice since 2007.

I practice family law exclusively.

I became a family law attorney because it gives me the chance to help folks on a very personal level, which is important to me. People who come to see me are inevitably going through a difficult time, and I thrive on getting them through it as quickly and effectively as possible.