Throughout her legal career, Vanessa has practiced exclusively in the area of family law. With her legal training and knowledge, she provides compassion and advocacy for her clients. Vanessa’s experience working on a broad spectrum of family law matters include divorce, pre-divorce counseling and planning, premarital agreements, complex marital property issues, high conflict child custody disputes, child and spousal support issues and domestic violence prevention and defense. Through thoughtful planning and strategy, Vanessa protects her clients’ assets and the best interests of her clients and their children. She represents clients in public court and before private judicial officers. In addition, she serves as a consulting attorney for clients who are preparing for divorce, going through the divorce process, are in mediation and who are seeking a second opinion on his or her family law matter.
Prior to earning her Juris Doctorate degree from Golden Gate University School of Law, Vanessa earned dual degrees in English and Psychology and Social Behavior and a minor in Political Science from the University of California – Irvine. While at the University of California – Irvine, Vanessa was the first recipient of the “Most Inspirational Student” Scholarship Award. At Golden Gate University School of Law, Vanessa was accepted into the Honors Lawyering Program and she was a judicial extern the San Francisco Unified Family Court.
Vanessa received excellent training and experience from the well-known and highly respected Bay Area law firms, Fox & Bank LLP and Viola Law Firm, P.C. In 2012, Vanessa completed an intense, weeklong trial training course through the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA). She participated in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) Mentoring Group from 2010 to 2012 and completed the AAML Trial Practicum in 2016.
Vanessa is also an active member of the legal community. She is the Vice-President of Membership for the National Filipino American Lawyers Association (NFALA)and was a Regional Governor. She was a long-time Board Member of the Contra Costa County Bar Association’s Family Law Section. Vanessa is Past President of the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC) and remains a member of their Advisory Board. She was a former District Representative for the American Bar Association Young Lawyer’s Division, and the former Co-Chair of the Family Law Section of the San Mateo County Bar Association. She is an active member of the Contra Costa County Bar Association, serving on its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. She is also active in the Alameda County Bar Association, San Diego County Bar Association, San Diego County Family Law Bar Association, the Filipino American Lawyers of San Diego, and the Lawyers Club of San Diego. Since becoming an attorney, Vanessa has regularly volunteered at local legal clinics throughout the Bay Area, for the Family Law Court in Contra Costa, and has mentored many law students.
Ms. Candelaria has been selected for inclusion in the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Northern California Super Lawyers List. Each year, no more than 5% of lawyers in the state are selected to receive this honor by the research team at Super Lawyers. She was also selected in 2015 through 2020 to the Northern California Super Lawyer Rising Star list. Each year, no more than 2.5% of lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor.