Helene Louise Taylor

Helene Louise Taylor

5.0
Rating: 7.6

Licensed for 32 years

Family Lawyer Practice Areas: Family

About Helene

Biography

Practice Areas

1

Practice Area

Family 100%

For nearly 30 years, I've worked with formidable attorneys, judges, and family law experts in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Napa, and Hawaii. I've helped thousands navigate and negotiate prenuptial, postnuptial, and divorce agreements.

32 years | 2,000 cases

100%

Fees and Rates

Cost

Hourly Rates

$ 375-500 per hour


Payment Methods

  • Credit Card

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Licenses

Licensed in California for 24 years

State: California

Acquired: 2001

Active

No misconduct found

Licensed in Hawaii for 32 years

State: Hawaii

Acquired: 1994

Active

No misconduct found

Location

No contact information is available for this lawyer

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Helene Louise Taylor's Reviews

Avvo Review Score

5.0 /5.0

6 Client Reviews

Filter Avvo Reviews (6) Refine reviews to match your needs. Use the filters to quickly surface reviews that align with your case or priorities.

Showing 1 - 4 of 4 reviews | General Knowledge

Posted by anonymous | March 08, 2022 | Hired Attorney | Divorce & Separation

Exceptional attorney for divorce and custody matters!

I had been living a nightmare custody/child support battle since my divorce finalized in 2017. The 2 attorneys who helped me get out of the abusive marriage could not take me on again when I asked for help again in 2021 regarding various custody issues my ex was in contempt of. It felt utterly and h...umanly impossible to “coparent” 4 children with a sociopath narcissist, until a friend recommended I reach out to Helene Taylor. Helene not only took the time to understand the many layers to my highly contested case but she was ultimately my children’s (and my) biggest advocate. Helen guided me in my responses to very manipulative and coercive messages from my ex who had been alienating me from my children and badmouthing me to them as well as my own family and community. She saw through his sick games and gave me tools to immediately help me gain my power back. I had been beaten down for so long, I lost sight of what I was even fighting for. Through my sessions with Helene, I gained back so much more- I have a better relationship with my children despite my ex continuing to interrogate them and she helped me see and ask for what I really needed for myself and children. I am truly in awe of her wealth of knowledge, experience, professionalism and continued commitment to my case. My previous attorney’s would charge for every email or phone call and make me feel like I couldn’t share information with them because I couldn’t afford to talk about it. Helene was more than supportive and beyond fair and reasonable. She was willing to work with my budget and gave me so many resources to help my situation emotionally, financially and spiritually. I highly recommend Helene Taylor to anyone going through a divorce or separation, or with any legal issues for that matter. She is so strategic, efficient and a straight-shooter. I trust her 110% and would find it hard to believe there is not a case she can’t tackle. SO ETERNALLY GRATEFUL for Helene Taylor and cannot give enough stars here.

Posted by Scott | February 19, 2016 | Hired Attorney | Divorce & Separation

The Perfect Attorney

Getting divorced is difficult. There's all the confusing legal stuff to navigate and then there's the emotional pains to deal with. I thought I could do my own amicable divorce without an attorney. I thought I could figure it all out as I went along. After all, my divorce was not a complicated one. I...t was to be pretty straight forward. And, then it wasn't. I needed help and fortunately I found Helene Taylor. She was exactly what I needed. I needed coaching and direction. I needed some quick tactical answers but then I also needed a game plan. I needed a roadmap. I needed help figuring out what my strategy was and what steps to take. No matter my question, she had all the answers or knew where to go find them and she always got right back to me. Super responsive!! She directed me to multiple mediators that she felt would be a good fit for my case. It allowed me to present options to my ex-wife knowing any would be a good choice for me. She had first hand knowledge of the mediators that were good to work with and which mediators to stay away from. She referred me to a law firms that specialized in amicable divorce cases which helped to keep my legal fees down. That turned out to be a really big deal as my ex-wife wanted to put up a big fight. Helene was on the phone with me when we interviewed the attorneys and the one I selected turned out to be a great fit for my case. During Mediation, I was able to continue working with Helene as my coach. She coached me on the process, the steps to take and the strategy to follow. She taught me to have a "soulful" divorce. She provided me with a roadmap to success and mapped out the steps I needed to take. She helped me understand where to hold my ground and where to compromise in order to achieve a peaceful settlement. In the end, she really opened my eyes to a new way of settling the divorce without needing to go to trial. She really "thinks outside the box" and opened my eyes to ideas that I had not thought of or knew existed. She is passionate about what she does and I would recommend her to anyone going through divorce. It's a long and complicated process and I found the legal system does not make it easy on the lay person who tries to do this without legal help. She has a terrific legal mind and a generous and soulful personality that helped me get the tactical/legal questions answered while also ensuring I kept my emotional side balanced. She helped me to be mindful, to stay present and understand the perspective of the opposing side. In the end, we achieved an amicable divorce and I can still speak to my ex-wife. And I owe it all to Helene Taylor!!! The Perfect Attorney!

Posted by anonymous | April 29, 2015

Great Experience

Helene was very professional and compassionate during this very difficult time. She walked me through all my options and then quickly and efficiently executed the paperwork needed to resolve my situation. She is technically knowledgeable and was willing to meet via skype and to email documents. I ...can't imagine it having gone any smoother. She worked quickly, didn't inflate her costs, and billed fairly. I was very pleased to have worked with Helene and would definitely use her again and recommend her to others.

Posted by tangentcity | March 05, 2015 | Divorce & Separation

A rising star in a field that meets a crucial need

The better your lawyer the more precious their time; that clock keeps ticking; you want to call upon their acumen only where and when it’s most needed; but even to direct their attention, to keep on top of the situation, to act in full cognizance of the reality that your lawyer works for you, not the... other way around, is challenging when you’re buffetted on all sides by malefic forces seeking to destroy you and all you hold dear. (Have I mentioned yet that I’m in the midst of a high-conflict divorce?) It’s easy to forget that you do have a hand on the tiller, that your own needs and choices count in the midst of the storm, count more than you might realize. Helene helps to remind you of that. I signed up for a package deal with her, we’ve talked for maybe six hours to date, and I can say that the value received far exceeds the money paid. With her help, I was able to decide that I needed different representation - I was able to screw up my courage and divorce my divorce lawyer, in order to be free to start a much better business relationship with a new lawyer. With her help, I was able to orient myself amidst a welter of competing facts and elements of a child custody battle, and choose the few critical ones to focus on with my lawyer’s help. If you want to help yourself - and everybody who can, should, rather than expect your lawyer to do it all - Helene’s knowledge, judgment, and sensitivity will serve you well. After an initial period where I truly felt and was overwhelmed and handicapped as all non-lawyers are by ignorance of the process and technical exigencies, I’m now in a position to do more for myself, to actual engage with the machinery of forms to fill and file and motions to serve. All with the help and advise of my lawyer, of course; but by working with Helene I’m empowered to do some of it on my own, and to learn enough, so that my lawyer is freed to focus on what an actual lawyer can do best, and I myself become a better customer, or consumer of legal services, and a more savvy nagivator of the sometimes scary world of litigation. What Helene offers is precious and I think the world needs more of her and more like her. Family Law is a pressure cooker like none other, especially when children are involved and there are high-conflict personality tendencies in even just one of the four main players (Mom, her lawyer, Dad, his lawyer). Helene’s specific combination of skills - razor-sharp legal knowledge and skills that bespeak years of learning and litigating, along with an exquisite sensitivity to deeper psychological aspects as the process brings out the worst and the best in everybody at different times - will help you choose and act in a way that’s truly in the Best Interests of the Children, as well as your own whether or not you have children.

See All Client Reviews

Helene Louise Taylor's Lawyer Endorsements

Endorse Helene
Kymeshia M. Morris headshot
Kymeshia Morris

Child custody lawyer | Oct 13

Relationship: Other

"I highly recommend Helene. I consulted with her regarding a child custody matter and she provided me with excellent tips and legal insight."

View All Endorsements
Kate Blackburn Rockas headshot
Kate Rockas

Divorce and separation lawyer

Experience

Rating:  7.6 (Very Good)

Honors

2023

Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

Work Experience

2005 - 2022

Owner, Law office of Helene L. Taylor

2005 - 2006

Associate Attorney, Morgan Lewis

2002 - 2005

Associate Attorney, Bley and Bley

2001 - 2002

Attorney, Cooper, White & Cooper, LLP

1994 - 2001

Owner, Law Office of Helene L. Taylor

Associations

1994 - Present

Hawaii State Bar Association

Member

2012 - 2014

Superior Court of California County of Sonoma No Fee Mediation Panel

Mediator

2002 - 2004

State Bar of California, Committee of Bar Examiners

Bar Examiner

2002 - 2006

San Francisco Young Family Lawyers Association

Member

2002 - 2014

Marin County Bar Association

Member

2001 - 2022

State Bar of California

Member

1994 - 2006

American Bar Association

Member

1994 - 2022

Martindale Hubel

Member

Sample of Legal Cases

In re Marriage of Kieturakis 138 CalApp4th 56

"The Court of Appeal held that the trial court erred in permitting husband’s evidence to come in over wife’s objections and that the mediati on privilege trumped the undue influence presumption."

See More Legal Cases

Education

2022

Stanford University Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education

Certification in Applied Compassion Training

1993

University of Hawaii at Manoa - William S. Richardson School of Law

JD - Juris Doctor

1990

University of Hawaii, Manoa

BA - Bachelor of Arts

N/A

University of Santa Monica

Speaking Engagements

2013

San Francisco Community Boards Mediation Clinics

Divvying it up: Mediating Asset Division in Divorce

2012

San Francisco Community Boards Mediation Clinics

Mediating Child and Spousal Support in Divorce

Publications

2023

R.A.C.E. Mentoring Series: Healing While Studying: Reflections and Strategies for Healing, Coping, and Liberation of Graduate Students of Minoritized Identities Making a Case for Self-Compassion as a Core Curriculum in Law School

Languages

English

Activity

Avvo Rating

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