Susan Daniel | Attorney

Susan Daniel I am an attorney licensed to practice in the State of California. My sole area of practice is Family Law. I have expertise in all aspects of family law including litigation, mediation, and collaborative law. Please check out our web site section labeled Family Law Services for a further explanation of litigation, mediation, and collaborative law. Just click on the buttons on the left side of your screen to access Family Law Services or any of the other web site sections.

I have a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (1979) from Loyola University in Chicago and a Master's Degree in Nursing Administration (1982) from the University of Illinois. I was the Assistant Administrator for the Kaiser Hospital in Santa Rosa until 1994. I graduated cum laude with a Juris Doctorate Degree (1998) from Empire College School of Law in Santa Rosa. I am particularly proud of the fact that I passed the California State BAR examination on my 1st attempt..... no easy feat for the mother of two young children.

Immediately after graduating from law school, I worked at the DeMeo and DeMeo law firm in Santa Rosa, assisting with personal injury and medical malpractice cases. Between 2000 and late 2006, I was an associate attorney at the Tavis Firm in Santa Rosa. While at the Tavis Firm I gained significant experience in all aspects of family law.

In December 2006, I left the Tavis Firm to open the LAW OFFICE OF SUSAN DANIEL. Our office motto is balancing your family law needs and that is just what we do. We strive to assist you in resolving your family law matter balancing what the law prescribes, your needs and wishes, while also keeping time and financial constraints in mind.

As a parent of two teenage daughters, I have an understanding of children's needs as well as their reaction to the stresses of a divorce or other family law matters. My office has a library with many good reference books for our clients to use. I find these reference books a wealth of helpful information for parents trying to decrease the stressful impact on their children. Please check out our office library.

Many people ask me, Why family law? My response is that I really enjoy practicing family law. Every case is different and offers new challenges. On one hand, California family law seems quite straightforward and routine but no two cases are ever exactly the same. I especially like working with child custody cases. I have experience in representing both mothers and fathers. My child custody experience runs the gamut from cases where the parents get along and child custody is not disputed to cases in which supervised visitation, restraining orders, or custody evaluation are required.

While I particularly like the challenges of child custody cases, I also have expertise in the support and property components of family law cases.

If you wish to have a consultation appointment, please contact my office at 707-304-5242 to set up an appointment. The consultation appointments are not free but I believe you will find them a wealth of very useful information. I call it Family Law 101. The hour long consultation appointment typically cover the topics of child custody, child support, spousal support (alimony), property division, and attorney's fees.

You may have noticed that I advertise in the yellow pages, internet services, and other community publications. However, the majority of my clients are direct referrals from former clients, other attorneys, or even clients referred by opposing parties. I strive to keep your legal fees as reasonable as possible given the specifics of your case. The cost of your retainer is individualized and will be determined at your consultation appointment. I also accept limited representation cases in which I am the attorney of record for only a portion of the pending family law case. For example, I can be the attorney of record for child custody while the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) handles the child support portion of the case. My office accepts VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover cards for the retainer fees.