First Admitted: 2000, California

Bar/Professional Activity:

Member, San Mateo County Domestic Violence Council and its Legal Process Committee from 2006 to 2015
Member, ACFLS is the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists. ACFLS is an independent non-profit organization, composed of Certified Family Law Specialists, dedicated to promoting and preserving the practice of Family Law.ACFLS was formed in 1980, after the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization certified its first group of Family Law Specialists. Since then, ACFLS has grown to more than 650 members., 2021
Member, San Mateo County Bar Association
Member, San Francisco Bar Association
Member, San Mateo County Blue Ribbon Commission on Foster Care and its Information Sharing Committee from 2011 to 2015
Ms. Acikalin presented to the San Mateo County Bar Association Family Law Section, Intimate Partner Abuse, Co-presenter: Charles Cavallino, Esq. from Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse, 2019

Verdicts/Settlements (Case Results):

My firm filed a domestic violence tort lawsuit against an out-of-state defendant in Napa. The trial court dismissed the case for lack of personal jurisdiction. We appealed, pro bono, and we won. My law partner, Jessica Dayton, two associates, Laura Alvarez and Paula Vielman-Reeves, and I handled the appeal. We now have the first published case on this issue in California. , 2021

Special Licenses/Certifications:

As of August 1, 2021, I was certified as a Family Law Specialist by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization, 2021

Pro bono/Community Service:

Beginning in May 2020, Ms. Acikalin is providing monthly training and technical assistance to Lawyers for Family Justice Legal Incubator Program with the Contra Costa Family Justice Center. http://www.cocofamilyjustice.org/services-before-import/safety/lawyers/, 2020
Community Law Night: Since April 2020, ADZ has continued to partner with CORA, Bay Area Legal Aid, San Mateo County Bar Association, and San Mateo County Law Library Foundation, to provide FREE 20-minute legal information/ advice for survivors of domestic violence. Call (650) 363-4913 for information about the next Community Law Night., 2020
Ms. Acikalin taught domestic violence and the law for La Casa de las Madres as a part of their 40 hour domestic violence community training. Ms. Acikalin teaches this course quarterly commencing in 2016 and most recently in June 2021. , 2021
Guest Lecturer for Berkley Law School Domestic Violence Practicum, Representing Survivors in Tort Suits, 2019
October 2019, Guest lecturer at Golden Gate University School of Law Domestic Violence Law course, Representing Survivors in Family Law Matters, 2019

Honors/Awards:

ADZ Law is proud to announce that we are the recipient of the 2021 Elinor Falvey Award given by the Women Lawyers Section of the San Mateo County Bar Association. This honor recognizes a person or organization that excels in maintaining a commitment to advancing the interests of women. Our partners, Tulin Acikalin and Jessica Dayton, accepted the award with the following remarks: “It is such an honor to be recognized among this list of exceptional women and organizations who have been recipients for the last 35 years. Elinor Falvey was a trailblazer and this award in her name is incredibly meaningful. As we look back to remind ourselves of the prior award recipients, we were struck by the thought that we have personally been present for almost half of them. We also note that we are the first private law firm to be recognized. The prior recipients included bench officers, attorneys, and non-profit organizations. To be recognized as a private law firm confirmed to us that we really did achieve the goal we set for ourselves when we had this crazy idea in 2015."To learn more about the award, click here. , Elinor Falvey Award, Women Lawyer's Section of the San Mateo County Bar Association, 2020

Educational Background:

Bachelor of Science in Management, concentration Finance, from Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business, 1994

Scholarly Lectures/Writings:

Industry Groups:

Tulin D. Acikalin