Custody may not be right for every father, but every father should have an equal right to custody

Peter J. Mueller

A Father's Rights Law Center has been limiting its legal representation to husbands and fathers in dissolution and custody proceedings for the past twelve years. FRLC was founded in in 1984 by Peter J. Mueller, licensed to practice law in California since 1974. In 1975 Mr. Mueller participated with others to represent a La Jolla physician in an action for legal malpractice adverse to the doctor's former lawyer whose legal error had implicated the doctor in a price fixing charge brought by the San Diego District Attorney. Gaining national notoriety with JAMA and Los Angeles Time's headlines, "Doctor Sues Lawyer For Malpractice", the suit following several years' work resulted in a major victory for the doctor, both professionally and financially.

Through the years Mr. Mueller has continued to be favored with physician clientele in his civil and business law practice; since founding FRLC in 1984, he has continued to provide civil and family legal services to the medical profession.

Mr. Mueller has managed FRLC as an alternative to the general family law practice by his exclusive availability for professional fathers and husbands. The philosophy of the center is not that custody is right for every father, but that every father should have an equal right to custody. It has been the center's experience that while parenting opportunities for fathers have significantly expanded over the past five (5) years as more and more mothers enter the work force, the best and happiest parenting plans evolve between the separated parents after the divorce has been finalized.

One aspect of the FRLC program that has proved helpful for clients when initiating joint custodial parenting plans acceptable to the court has been FRLC's immediate involvement of prominent child psychologists for clients before the first court appearance to help the father prepare a reasonable parenting plan consistent with family history and needs. FRLC also encourages professional preparation for clients to best present their parenting plan to the family mediators employed by the Superior Court. The mediator's initial custody recommendation is made when parents are unable to agree to a custody plan; the court tends to 'rubber-stamp' the recommendation, and it becomes critical to all custody orders.

Mr. Mueller has been practicing law for 35 years and is licensed in California and Illinois. Graduating with honors from Loyola Law School in 1972, he was selected to associate with Chicago's leading corporate firm and was also invited to become a Visiting Professor of Corporate Law at Loyola, where he had held the position as Assistant Dean of the Business School during his law studies. At Loyola Law School he taught third year law students the core course in business law while he worked for General Motors, American Oil Company, The Chicago Tribune Company, and the Catholic Bishop of the Chicago Archdiocese while associated with Kirkland & Ellis.

In 1974 Mr. Mueller was invited by Overton, Lyman & Prince of Los Angeles to join the firm to provide insurance defense legal services generally and in medical malpractice cases. In 1977 he opened his own law office in La Jolla and Rancho Santa Fe as a member of the firm, Woolley, Mullin & Mueller, focusing his practice on family law and civil litigation.

A Physician's lawyer since 1974, Mr. Mueller founded A Father's Rights Law Center in 1984 to represent the professional father.

Mr. Mueller founded FRLC following the break up of his family through divorce in 1982. From this personal experience, and with encouragement from United Fathers of America, colleagues and clients, he established FRLC, and has specialized his practice for the professional father ever since.

In his position as director of FRLC, Mr. Mueller, a Certified Family Law Specialist, benefits from his early litigation training and experience and will involve when needed, qualified and respected expert child psychologists and psychiatrists, business economists, certified public accountants and vocational counselors in San Diego to assist FRLC clientele to obtain balanced and equitable custody sharing arrangements and property settlements.

As the father of seven children, ages 15 to 41, Mr. Mueller brings to his family practice the personal experience of his own family's break up by divorce. The calculus of that experience has defined FRLC's promotion of its specialization for the benefit of fathers and husbands, not only as a career resource, but as a lesson learned in the trenches where more than reputation was at stake.

FRLC offers the availability of its legal services in San Diego and North County; in formation is available at 800-4-LAW-HELP.

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