Cara Cupp

Partner | Certified Family Law Specialist

Cara has practiced family law in the Bay Area exclusively for nearly 20 years.

While she began her career in a top tier New York-based litigation firm, Cara quickly realized her true passion was in guiding people through the emotional and financial complexities associated with divorce.  Cara understands that divorce is an intensely personal experience and approaches every matter with a high level of compassion, discretion, integrity, and professionalism. She works closely with her clients throughout the process to understand their specific needs and objectives, and tailors creative and effective strategies to align with each client’s goals. She strives to simplify the complex and bring calm to chaos to ensure her clients feel supported, educated, and empowered in making decisions that will have a lasting impact on their financial and family security. While Cara prefers to settle cases efficiently and favorably, she is equipped to litigate as necessary to protect her clients’ interests.

Cara has extensive experience settling and, if necessary, litigating family law matters that involve property division, support, and child custody. She has represented a broad array of clients, including professionals, stay-at-home parents, tech entrepreneurs, professional athletes and musicians, venture capitalists, corporate executives, business owners, and beneficiaries of substantial family wealth. She has specialized experience in high-asset, complex dissolutions and is well versed in resolving matters involving premarital and postnuptial agreements, venture capital, hedge funds, private equity, privately held companies, intellectual property rights, royalties, and cryptocurrency. Cara has developed a broad network of resources and will assemble a team of advisors—tax professionals, forensic accountants, investment advisors, estate counsel, corporate counsel, equity compensation experts, parenting experts, and therapists—to support her clients as needed.

Cara has highly specialized knowledge and expertise in complex custody disputes involving Custody Evaluations, high conflict co-parenting, children with special needs, estrangement, mental illness, domestic abuse, substance abuse, parental relocation, international custody matters, and parental kidnapping and has successfully resolved several high conflict custody cases both in and out of court. Cara’s strong relationships with related experts in the field have proven invaluable in her support and advocacy of her clients.  Given Cara’s substantial experience in working with families in transition, she is uniquely positioned to guide her clients from a place of instability to one marked by sensible, lasting, child-centered resolutions.

When she is not in the office, Cara enjoys travel, skiing, SCUBA, volunteer work, and community activism.

Education

JD, U.C. Law, San Francisco (fka Hastings College of the Law)

Professional Associations

Member, San Francisco Bar Association

Member, Marin County Bar Association

Member, AFCC (Association of Family and Conciliation Courts)

Chair, Women Lawyers Committee of SCCBA (2007-2010)

Chair, Budget Committee for Family Law Section of Santa Clara County Bar Association (“SCCBA”) (2008-2010)

Board of Trustees, SCCBA (2007-2010)

Member, San Jose Regional Standing Committee (2008-2010)

Member, Strategic Planning Committee of SCCBA (2008-2010)

Judge Pro Tem, property arbitration, Santa Clara (2004-2010)

Member, SCCBA (2005-2017)