Laura Alvarez

A graduate of Fordham University School of Law in New York, and Oberlin College in Ohio, attorney Laura Alvarez is a Certified Family Law Specialist (certified by the State of California, Board of Legal Specialization).

Ms. Alvarez has practiced law for over a decade, with her primary focus on family law. Ms. Alvarez uses her substantial trial and negotiation experience and exceptional legal research and writing skills to advocate vigorously on behalf of her clients. Prior to Mendes Law, Ms. Alvarez spent several years focused on domestic violence representation, including work at Bay Area Legal Aid and Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse. Ms. Alvarez strives for excellence and for justice, all while providing a reassuring presence to clients by remaining calm under pressure. While in law school, she was a member of Fordham Law’s selective Stein Scholars Program in Public Interest Law and Ethics.

Ms. Alvarez also has appellate experience. She orally argued and led the briefing team in a successful appeal which became published. She has twice been selected as a SuperLawyers Rising Star.

Ms. Alvarez’s current and past professional memberships include:

• Commissioner: San Leandro Arts, Culture & Library Commission
• Officer on the board of the San Mateo County Law Library Foundation
• San Mateo County Bar Association, Race and Social Justice Committee
• San Mateo County Legal Process Committee of the Domestic Violence Council
• Domestic Violence Legal Roundtable
• Lawyers in the Library: volunteer attorney
• Community Law Night: volunteer attorney
• Georgia Hispanic Bar Association: Treasurer
• Golden Gate Basset Rescue: Newsletter Editor

Publications:

• Common Misconceptions in Domestic Violence Litigation, Contra Costa Lawyer Magazine, May 2025
• Representing Immigrants in Family Law: Key Issues, Georgia Bar Family Law Review, Summer, 2013