Our Services

Borderline Personality Disorder Consulting

We regularly received phone calls from across the United State and the world from people seeking help dealing with Borderlines. Typically, these calls come from the non-Borderline Personality Disorder spouse, the “new” spouse or significant other of the normal-range spouse, concerned family members, attorneys litigating a BPD case, mental health professionals, school administrators, special needs attorneys, and others. We have received the most flattering and sincere accolades from these consultations and are sometimes told that our consultations are the best money our client ever spent on their case.  

This is a viable option for those whose lives are overwhelmed by the BPD’s destructive and chaotic behaviors and who desperately need and want specific, hands-on guidance on how to deal with the BPD on a day-to-day basis both in and out of court. The advice, information, and tactics learned during these consultations can be given directly to local counsel and used to great advantage. 

Needless to say, these are emotionally rewarding relationships for us, too. 

Expert Witness Services 

As described in more detail at expert witness services, Mr. Young’s specialized knowledge is especially effective when serving as an expert witness. Many cases are lost because a disconnect occurs between a mental health care practitioner’s evaluation and custody recommendations, and the court’s custody order or judgment. It is imperative that the court understands why parenting plan orders involving a Borderline must be drafted with near obsessive attention to detail. Through testimony, Mr. Young can emphasize to the court the need to “translate” the mental health care professional’s report and recommendations into workable orders enforceable by contempt motions that cannot be misinterpreted and that address every conceivable permutation of the facts. The goal is to prevent the Borderline from exploiting less than perfectly drafted orders and unnecessarily increasing the costs of litigation. 

Second Opinions

Very often we receive calls from clients who express understandable disappointment with how their current attorney is handling their Borderline case. Truth be told, most attorneys simply do not have the education, training, skills, experience, background, or even desire to successfully handle a Borderline case. They approach BPD cases with the same one-size-fits-all approach they use in garden variety, non-Borderline cases, which typically ends in disaster. We are happy to address this need by reviewing your case and making appropriate recommendations. Sometimes these second opinion consultations morph into rewarding, cooperative relationships with local counsel if he or she wants to expand his or her practice into this under-represented market and elevate their practices to a new level. Other times, the increase in trust and confidence our client experiences in himself or herself results in a search for new local counsel who is ready, willing, and able to adapt to a new legal and psychological paradigm. 

Working with Local Counsel 

From time to time we work closely with a client’s local counsel. This happens when, for geographical or other reasons, we cannot represent a client in court but the case requires specialized knowledge about Border Personality Disorder. These relationships only work if local counsel is ready, willing and able to work cooperatively with Mr. Young. Depending upon the case, this cooperation may be limited to advising local counsel. In other cases, cooperation may require Mr. Young to make a limited appearance at a critical custody hearing. The operative words are cooperation and flexibility. 

Traditional “Life of Case” Representation

We offer full representation for family law cases filed in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, and Riverside countries, California. This is traditional “model” of representation in which we represent you in every aspect of your family law proceeding from initial filing through judgment on all issues as well as post-judgment matters. This includes Petitions for Dissolution of Marriage, Petitions for Determination of Parentage, domestic violence restraining orders, and Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement (UCCJEA) disputes. We address issues like child custody and visitation (parenting arrangements), child support, spousal support (also known as maintenance and alimony) modifications, and property division. Because of the time, effort, and expense BPD cases demand, only high net worth and very high net worth clients can afford “full representation”. 

For litigants of more modest means, we offer other options. 

Limited Scope Representation

For those of more modest means, California law allows family law attorneys to make limited appearances on behalf of a client. For example, clients may elect to retain an attorney to appear at a single hearing (or any continuation of that hearing) or represent them on any discrete issue (e.g., child custody or property division) but no other issues. This means that, except for the specific task or issue(s) set out in the Notice of Limited Scope Representation form (FL-950), the client represents himself or herself on all other issues. We oftentimes represent client’s for the limited purpose of determining custody and visitation where funds are limited. 

Mediation

Mediation is generally not an available—or even advisable--avenue for dispute resolution involving a BPD. Why? Because from the Borderline’s point of view, the problem with settling a problem is that then no problem exits, and that is a problem. Borderlines thrive on problems, chaos, confusion, manipulation, and deceit. Settlement imposes order and accountability that is antithetical to how the Borderline operates. Nevertheless, mediation can play a crucial and beneficial role for the normal-range spouse/parent under certain limited circumstances. 

California Rules of Professional Conduct Disclaimer:  Mr. Young is not a mental health professional and makes no claims or representations to that effect. Mr. Young’s expertise results solely from litigating family law proceedings since 1993 that involve litigants whose behaviors are similar to and consistent with the DSM-5’s criteria for diagnosing Borderline Personality Disorder although, in a particular case, the patterns of behavior exhibited may not be elevated to a pathological level and, therefore, remain sub-clinical.