Brian D. Mullen

Brian D. Mullen is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego and California Western School of Law. After law school he served as a law clerk to a veteran San Diego attorney whose family law practice deals with primarily heavily contested custody matters before family law and juvenile courts, Domestic Violence Restraining Orders, guardianships, complex dissolution of marriage cases involving division of assets and debts, and criminal defense.  After passing the Bar Exam, Mr. Mullen joined another law group in San Diego for several years. At that firm, Mr. Mullen handled straightforward and complex divorce matters from inception to judgment, including motions for child support before the Department of Child Support Services and Family Support Division.  Mr. Mullen also served as lead counsel to several civil matters.  In September 2009, he temporarily joined another well-known family law firm, which also handles complex dissolutions and contested child custody matters including guardianships. Mr. Mullen recently prevailed in a highly acrimonious guardianship matter.  The case went to trial in November 2009, and at trial the Court ordered permanent guardianship to Mr. Mullen’s client, who was the paternal grandmother.

Mr. Mullen’s experience in family law matters helps him as an effective advocate for those who strive to enforce their rights in the California family law courts. He assesses each client’s goals, fights for their priorities and returns telephone calls promptly. As the managing associate attorney at Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP’s Orange County office, Mr. Mullen has been lead counsel on cases involving child custody move-aways, including petitions filed under the Hague Convention. Additionally, Mr. Mullen represents Orange County clients in domestic violence restraining order matters, hetero and same-sex divorces, paternity actions and guardianships. Mr. Mullen is familiar with the Family Law and Family Support Division courts in Orange County, as he appears before these departments regularly.

Some additional examples of Mr. Mullen’s outstanding legal representation for our clients include:

-In a recent domestic violence restraining order matter, a mother of a child moved to California from Arizona and filed her DV matter here.  She moved without notifying the father.  While the parties were already divorced in Arizona, and the parties had current custody orders, the mother’s filing was a clear tactic to try and “jurisdiction shop” to gain more favorable custody orders.  Mr. Mullen promptly filed a motion to quash and dismiss the case in California based on lack of personal jurisdiction and lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the alleged domestic violence occurred in Arizona.  Mr. Mullen was successful in obtaining a court order dismissing the case.

-Mr. Mullen was recently successful in negotiating a favorable divorce settlement where certain real property assets were exchanged for the elimination of a father’s child support arrears.  Child support arrears matters can be extremely tricky cases to handle given the technical standard required to eliminate the arrears and the often brutal consequences for maintaining an arrears balance.

-In a complex child custody matter involving a move away, a mother and father were litigating a case involving the mother’s recent to move across the country with the minor child.  The father had been the primary caregiver.  Through Mr. Mullen’s counsel, the mother attempted to facilitate the father’s relationship with the child even though she wanted to move.  At Mr. Mullen’s advice, the mother utilized tools like Skype and Family Wizard to keep open communication between the non-custodial parent and the child.  The court, after a child custody evaluation had been provided by a Evidence Code 730 evaluator, changed custody to Mr. Mullen’s client, the mother, and allowed her to move across the country.  The court found that the mother was more likely to facilitate the father’s relationship with the child and the father was unlikely to facilitate the mother’s relationship with the child if he was awarded custody.

An extremely experienced family law litigation attorney, Mr. Mullen is available to meet face-to-face with you about your case in a in a private and confidential setting.  He will designate up to an hour of his time to speak with you about your case free of charge.  This free consultation provides you with the opportunity to meet with Mr. Mullen to learn about the legal options available to you in your case and learn about Mr. Mullen’s specific experience in handling issues that you face.  While every case takes on its own unique challenges and circumstances, because Mr. Mullen has handled hundreds of family law matters it is likely he will be able to analogize an issue you face with a scenario he has successfully litigated in the Orange County Family Courts.

An Orange County native, Mr. Mullen is an active member of the Orange County Bar Association and the Family Law Section of the California State Bar.

Mr. Mullen is a fluent Spanish speaker, and represents Wilkinson & Finkbeiner’s Spanish-speaking clients residing throughout Orange County.

Areas of Practice:

Adoption

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Child Support

Spousal Support

Post Judgment

Enforcement

Contracts

Child Custody & Visitation

Divorce

Family Law

Litigation Percentage:

75% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions:

California, 2007

U.S. District Court Southern District of California, 2007

Education:

California Western School of Law, San Diego, California, 2003

J.D.

University of California at San Diego, 1999

B.A.

*Mr. Mullen’s success in previous legal matters does not guarantee any specific results in any other matter.