{"id":2,"date":"2011-01-08T08:56:35","date_gmt":"2011-01-08T16:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/familyfirstlegal.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2023-03-29T14:35:36","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T21:35:36","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/familyfirstlegal.com\/?page_id=2","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mae Adkins,CFLS*\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

* Certified as a specialist in family law by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization<\/span><\/p>\n

Principal Attorney and Mediator:<\/span><\/p>\n

Mae Adkins, the principal and founder of Family First Legal, has been a practicing attorney in California since 2003, with a focus on working with individuals of all backgrounds who are engaged in family law and general civil litigation matters. She has been a certified legal specialist in Family Law since 2018.<\/p>\n

In early 2009, Ms. Adkins completed her mediator training in accordance with the California Dispute Resolution Programs Act and has mediated disputes of all types, now primarily focusing on family law matters including divorces and separations, child custody and visitation, premarital agreements, and child guardianship matters.<\/p>\n

Ms. Adkins has extensively argued matters throughout various California Courts and administrative boards, both in trial and pre-trial hearings, and through appeals. She graduated cum laude and in the top 10% of her class from Hastings College of the Law in 2003, and has a B.A. in Philosophy and a B.F.A in Fine Art from the Ohio State University, where she graduated summa cum laude.<\/p>\n

Ms. Adkins stands out from other attorneys in her approachability, in her caring, nonjudgmental attitude towards each client, and in the comfort and trust she instills. \u00a0Ms. Adkins helps clients focus on solutions to reach strong and successful resolutions.<\/p>\n

She is also a member of the California and San Francisco Bar Associations. Before becoming an enthusiastic mom of two boys, she served as a volunteer with and San Francisco’s Community Boards (the nation’s first and longest running neighborhood mediation program), Contra Costa County’s Conflict Resolution Program, sat on the Community Outreach & Education Committee of Community Boards, and was a member of Business Networking International (BNI).<\/p>\n

Sky Thompson \"\"
\n<\/span><\/h2>\n

Associate Attorney:<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Thompson has been a practicing attorney in California for over 20 years, with an emphasis on family law since 2013.<\/p>\n

Ms. Thompson\u2019s extensive experience working with clients of varied social and cultural backgrounds gives her a keen ability to listen and communicate with compassion and sensitivity. She understands that family law matters are intensely personal and emotional and takes the time to develop trust with her clients to work strategically to address their legal concerns in the most effective manner. Ms. Thompson has always worked hard to ensure that her clients have their positions effectively represented in court and that they are part of the court\u2019s decision-making process.<\/p>\n

Before starting with Family First Legal, Ms. Thompson served as a Staff Attorney for Legal Aid of Marin, working on family law cases for a mostly Spanish-speaking clientele.\u00a0 She started her legal career in the Sacramento District Attorney\u2019s Office and later the San Francisco City Attorney\u2019s Office, were she served as a Trial Attorney for nearly 13 years.\u00a0 She served on the Civil Litigation Team, representing city employees and city agencies in several areas of civil tort law.\u00a0 For several years, she represented social workers in San Francisco Dependency Court.<\/p>\n

After living in Spain for seven years, Ms. Thompson returned to California recommitted to doing helping people navigate the legal system.\u00a0 She took a position for three years with the Yurok Tribe, California\u2019s largest Native American tribe, providing civil legal assistance to tribal members, in state and tribal courts.\u00a0 The majority of the cases involved divorce, custody, visitation and protective orders.\u00a0 She also helped develop the tribe\u2019s own Title IV-D Child Support system, which transferred cases directly from the state court system.\u00a0 During this experience, Ms. Thompson realized the value and benefits that result from good representation in family law cases and recommitted herself to helping people in domestic situations.\u00a0 She has dedicated herself to attempting to restore family harmony, protecting parental rights and attempting to ease the impact of legal conflict on families during their most sensitive and difficult times of reorganization.<\/p>\n

Ms. Thompson received her J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz, where she double-majored in Economics and Politics. She grew up in Sacramento, where she worked in state politics while attending law school in the evenings.<\/p>\n

Ms. Thompson is fluent in Castilian Spanish.<\/p>\n

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Additional Information:<\/span><\/h2>\n

Please enjoy Ms. Adkins’ on-air video, speaking on her work and the practice of family law with the gracious host, Maryam Turab, of “Conversations with Maryam<\/a>” – a weekly program that airs on WBT-TV<\/a> in Silicon Valley.\u00a0 WBT-TV is a wonderful community channel that brings local and South Asian (Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan) news, events, political discussions and current hot topics to the Silicon Valley community.<\/p>\n