Consulting Attorney Case Study: From $4,500 a Month in Support to $0
He Was Facing $4,500 a Month in Support. Then He Got a Second Opinion.
A father mediating with someone else felt the talks were tilting against him. He hired Scott as his consulting attorney, and support went from $4,500 a month to zero.
Where Ryan was
Ryan and his wife, Leslie, moved to San Diego to be near her family after more than a decade in their previous city. Ryan feels stuck here. Leslie was firm that she and their son would not move again.
Since the move, Leslie has not worked full-time, and Ryan’s earnings dropped significantly. The two of them were mediating with another mediator, and after three sessions Ryan was worried. The talks kept leaning toward Leslie’s position, and he didn’t have the knowledge to push back.
What was on the table
- Leslie asked for $4,500 a month in child and spousal support.
- She asked for 75% of the parenting time as the “primary caretaker.”
- She had inherited a multi-million-dollar property that she neither lives in nor rents out, which meant about $6,500 a month of income she was choosing not to receive.
Ryan was being pushed toward a settlement that would have cost him far more than it should, in money and in time with his son.
What Scott did
Ryan hired Scott as his consulting attorney. Scott didn’t replace the mediator or take over the process. He advised Ryan alone, so Ryan could go back into mediation informed and prepared. It’s the same mix of legal knowledge and financial analysis Scott brings to every case.
He lowered the temperature
Scott developed a de-escalation strategy and coached Ryan on how to handle the mediator and Leslie, so the sessions became focused instead of reactive.
He made the parenting case with the law
Scott prepared a parenting proposal based on California law, which promotes frequent and continuing contact with both parents. Leslie’s claim to 75% of the time as the “primary caretaker” was no longer the default.
He found the errors in the support math
Reviewing the child support calculation, Scott found several mistakes. Ryan’s pension payments hadn’t been counted in his income, and he is paid 11 months a year, not 12. Correcting those alone reduced the support figure by more than 40%.
He put the inherited property into the equation
Scott explained that Leslie’s choice to neither rent nor sell the inherited property should be reflected in the support calculation. If she had millions in the bank, or $6,500 a month in rent, her need for spousal support would be dramatically reduced or eliminated.
How it ended
Ryan took this to the next session and rebutted the $4,500 a month request. He and Leslie agreed that neither would pay child or spousal support, which saves Ryan more than $54,000 a year. They also agreed to equal parenting time with their son.
The point of a consulting attorney
You don’t have to leave a mediation you’re comfortable with. You can keep the process and still have your own lawyer check the numbers, the law and the strategy. In this case, that was the difference between paying $4,500 a month and paying nothing.
“Scott Levin has helped pull me through the most difficult time of my adult life. I got separated one year ago, and he has worked as my consulting attorney since then. I can’t say enough about his work ethic, quality of legal advice, responsiveness in communication, and compassion for my family situation. Even though he was hired to take my side, he never made the process feel like a zero-sum game. Scott’s training as both a mediator and lawyer gave him great insight into helping couples divorce with both party’s interests met without compromising his client’s goals. He took into consideration my son’s situation as my former spouse and I worked through a separate mediation firm to finalize our custody agreement. I would highly recommend working with Scott who knows what he is doing and will work tirelessly to support you and your interests.”PAST MEDIATION CLIENT
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Scott Levin, Esq., CDFA® is a California family law attorney, neutral mediator and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst in San Diego. He helps couples across California, in person and online.
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Names and details were changed to protect the family’s privacy. In this matter Scott acted as consulting attorney for one spouse only. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. Results vary. Last updated September 2026.
