Hi,

I'm looking for a family law attorney in the Santa Monica/Beverly
Hills, CA area that specializes in child "move away" cases.  My wife
left me recently and took my 1 yr. old son with her to another state,
1,000 miles away, where I have no connections or ability to earn a
living in my profession.

We are not divorced or legaly separated, so it doesn't fit the
traditional "move away" cookie-cutter mold, but I must have some
rights in this situation.  I'm looking for expert advice.  Thanks.

Dear jgorilla-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question.
Obviously we can?t recommend a lawyer to you or provide legal advice
in this forum (see our disclaimer at the bottom of this page) but we
can tell you how to find one that you determine is suitable for your
purposes. Its difficult to answer your question in terms of a lawyer
that specializes precisely in the area of "move away cases? since none
of them are listed that way. The State Bar of California offers
California lawyers the opportunity to become certified in eight areas
of law practice. These are:

Appellate Law 
Bankruptcy Law 
Criminal Law 
Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law 
Family Law 
Immigration and Nationality Law 
Taxation Law 
Workers' Compensation Law

Your case, of course comes under the auspices of Family Law and those
certified in this specialty handle all manners of family law including
what you termed "move away cases?. The complaint you are referring to
is actually (even though you are still married and not separated) a
?custodial? issue. By definition the California Bar describes ?Family
Law? certification in this manner:

?Family law is the practice of law dealing with all aspects of the
California Family Code and including, but not limited to, the
following: taxation issues incident to family law practice; contempt;
enforcement proceedings; mediation and/or negotiation of family law
disputes; psychological and counseling aspects of family law; family
law writ and appellate practice; post-marital agreements; non-marital
domestic relationships; child custody in any forum; and public
enforcement of child support.?

THE STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA
http://calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?sImagePath=Family_Law.gif&sCategoryPath=/Home/Attorney%20Resources/Special%20Services/Legal%20Specialization&sHeading=Family%20Law&sFileType=HTML&sCatHtmlPath=html/LS_Rules-Family.html

That being said, any specializing attorney would be capable of
handling all aspects of a complex custodial issue (i.e. ?a child
custody in any forum?) such as yours. The trick to finding an expert
attorney hinges not on their colorful claims in the yellow pages. Many
people often make this mistaken assumption and live to regret it. What
one must do is to investigate which attorneys are listed with an
OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZE ENTITY such as the State Bar to make certain they
are certified in a particular field, and they are not just making
CLAIMS that they ?know the law? in this regard. This is exactly what I
have done for you below.

Using the California Bar Association?s Lawyer Lookup tool there is
quite a hefty list of choices among certified attorneys who specialize
in this particular field of practice:

CALIFORNIA BAR
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/ls_results.aspx?specialty=Family+Law&county=Los+Angeles&Submit=Search

Among them are several Santa Monica attorneys that I will list here
for your convenience:

AVERY MARK COOPER
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=79376
http://www.cooper-gordon.com/

STEVEN LEROY FINSTON
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=59365

FRIEDA GORDON
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=115780

LINDA SUE GROSS
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=79054

STEFANIE MAURA HALL
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=139192

RICHARD LEE KOTLER
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=92764

ALLEN IRWIN NEIMAN 
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=27368

AMY L. NEIMAN 
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=120121

SANDRA SEGAL POLIN
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=82665

LYNN SOODIK
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=106604

DONNA B. WEAVER
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=75798

While this is not a recommendation, according to their individual
certifications and experience I believe you will find one (or several)
of these attorneys quite qualified to handle your case and able to
provide ?expert advice?. This of course will be dependent on your own
further investigation from this point forward to determine which, if
any, if best suited under the circumstances. I hope it works out well
for all involved.

I also hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

Defined above


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

California

Bar

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Lawyer

Attorney

Lookup

Family Law

Custody

Custodial

Dear jgorilla,

Something that could be important, is the time it takes for the
child's "home state" to be the state to which the mother relocated.
The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (UCCJEA)
defines that as a six month period. If you delay past the six months
before commencing legal action, there is a substantial chance that any
custody litigation would ultimately occur in the state where the child
now resides.

Another source of family lawyers is the American Academy of
Matrimonial Lawyers directory. As with any certification or membership
organization, the holding of a credential or membership of itself is
not a guarantee that the lawyer will be better than his or her peers.
But it tends to indicate that the lawyer is sufficiently focused on
the area of practice to expend the time and energy to become
certified, whether through the State Bar or by meeting the membership
criteria of an organization like the AAML.
http://www.aaml.org/custom/directory/search.cfm

Good luck.