Joseph P. Crawford

Joe is a Certified Family Law Specialist and a Member of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.  He is consistently included in the Best Lawyers in America and has been named one of Northern California’s Super Lawyers by Super Lawyers Magazine since 2006.  He is a seasoned trial attorney with over 20 years of experience litigating almost every family law issue.  Joe focuses his practice on representing high net worth individuals (or their spouses) with complex financial issues.  His cases involve issues such as the characterization and valuation of privately held companies, complex compensation structures like carried interest, management fees and the equity compensation methods prevalent for senior executives in Silicon Valley.

A divorce is often the most important financial transaction in anyone’s life.  But Joe knows that it is much more than a financial transaction — it can be a painful and often transformative process.  Depending on the needs of the client, Joe helps the client build a team of professionals to provide specialized advice during the case (and sometimes afterward) including forensic accountants, estate planners, wealth managers, child custody experts, therapists, and other professionals.

Joe’s litigation experience informs his belief that clients almost always achieve a better and more complete resolution through settlement.  He is a skilled negotiator and advocate who has trained with the Harvard Negotiation Institute.   He knows that mastery of the facts and the law coupled with an understanding of the goals of his client provide strength in negotiation and confidence to his clients as they make choices during their case.

Joe is a leader in the family law community. He currently serves as the President of the San Mateo County Bar Association.  He frequently serves as a faculty member of the AAML Trial Practicum, teaching trial skills to new attorneys. He has presented on a wide range of topics to the family law bar, including the effective use of financial experts in divorce cases and ethical issues in family law. He is a past board member of Kids’ Turn and a past Chair of the Family Law Section of San Mateo County Bar Association. He has been active on various other state and county bar and court committees, including the San Mateo County Bench and Bar Committee, Membership Committee, and Operations Committee.

Joe spends half of his time in our San Mateo office and half in our San Francisco office.