We have a philosophy at the Law Offices of Donald Kilmer, that our clients need to understand the principles and the law underlying their cases. We strive, not only to represent our clients, but to educate them and arm them with knowledge so that they can take steps to protect themselves and their rights even after we close file in our office.

• Divorce
• Civil Rights
• Criminal Law

DIVORCE

The legal separation of man and wife, effected by the judgment or decree of a court, and either totally dissolving the marriage relation, or suspending its effects so far as concerns the cohabitation of the parties. From: Black's Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition.

Mere knowledge of definitions, and/or an encyclopedic knowledge of the California Family Code is not a good enough reason for you to hire our firm. If you are contemplating divorce, what you need is a practical and experienced approach to separating your life from:

• Someone you trusted enough to marry, but find difficult to trust now.
• Someone you trusted enough to start a family with, but now the two of you can not seem to agree on what is in the best interest of that family.
• Someone you now find difficult (at best) to communicate with, now that your relationship is to be legally dissolved.

• You are contemplating leaving your marriage. You have your reasons (which may be valid) and your spouse does not know about this development.
• You are in shock because you have been served with divorce papers or have just been told by your spouse that he or she wants a divorce.
• You and your spouse have agreed on at least one thing lately, you have both accepted the death of your marriage.
• You are contemplating marriage (or you are already married) and want to define the property and support obligations between you and your spouse.
• You are already divorced and due to a change in circumstances, you need to modify your court orders with respect to support or custody.
• You are the parent of a child. You and the other parent are not married, but you want to formalize the parent/child relationship and provide for the support of that child.
• You are in a domestic relationship that endangers you and/or your children. You need an order of protection from the court to help stop the violence.

In each of these scenarios, you need legal advice. You don't need drama. You don't need revenge. You don't need vindication as the "innocent spouse." You need practical legal advice and cost-effective advocacy to help define and achieve your goals.

We want to be the firm that strives to help you achieve the peace and "peace of mind"that will come with a dignified application of Family Code to the problems you want to solve.

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CIVIL RIGHTS

Our firm is qualified to help you with grievances that you may have against the Federal, State or Local Government. We are a very selective about the civil rights cases we accept for representation. Most of the cases deal with areas of:

• Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Religion and Liberty of Conscience -- These are the rights secured by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 2, 3, 4 and 24 of the California Constitution.
• The Right to Keep and Bear Arms - This is a very controversial area of law. This right is secured by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. Currently, the California Constitution does not currently guarantee this right. The controversy arises out of the conflict between the individual's right to self defense and the power of government to control violent persons. We also represent individuals and businesses in the firearm industry, including but not limited to Federal Firearm Licensees, Collectors, Gun Store Owners, Gun Show Promoters and Vendors.
• The Right to be Free from Unreasonable Search and Seizure -- These rights are secured by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 13 of the California Constitution. These kinds of cases usually come about because the government agents failed to secure a valid warrant, or exceeded the boundaries of a valid warrant, or used excessive force in the performance their duties. These case are not just limited to police and correctional officers. Currently we are taking no new cases in this area of law. Check this website for any future change in the status of this restriction.
• Due Process and Equal Protection - These rights are secured by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and various provisions of the California Constitution. Most of the cases that arise under these doctrines are in the area of employment and housing discrimination. We do not handle those types of cases at this time. However, issues of Due Process and Equal Protection also arise when the government treats someone unfairly in connection with the exercise of their other constitutional rights. These are the types of cases we handle.

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CRIMINAL LAW

We have a very narrow and highly specialized criminal practice. We represent people accused of crimes in the federal and state courts on charges relating to the possession of alleged illegal firearms:

• assault weapons
• machine guns
• destructive devices
• explosives
• silencers
• and other firearm-related weapons

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