Julia F. Weber, Esq., MSW

Violence Prevention Consultant, Trainer & Speaker

Tel: 415.658.5425 or click to send an email to julia@juliafweber.com

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Areas of Practice

I’ve spent my career developing innovative approaches to solving complex issues facing families, children, and communities. As an attorney, social worker, and storyteller, I view crafting legislation, providing trainings, and offering presentations as opportunities to connect with others and make a difference, especially in policy and practice areas that many find frustrating and overwhelming.

Together, we can save lives and reduce risk in our communities, workplaces, and homes. I’ve witnessed what determined people can do to create the change they want to see; when I’m collaborating with policymakers, organizations, and communities, I rely on good research and lived experiences to support these approaches that are also creative, cost efficient, and effective.

At the first Implementation Director at Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, I had the privilege of working closely with colleagues and policymakers across the U.S. to not only pass common sense violence prevention legislation but again to help ensure lifesaving policies were implemented. I continue to do that work as a consultant working with policymakers, courts, government and community-based organizations, and individuals seeking assistance navigating court processes.

Highlights of my work include:

• Collaborating on and successfully advocating for many California legislative and funding policies including SB 320 addressing firearms relinquishment in domestic violence cases; SB 599 on child custody and visitation when firearms may be at issue; and the 2021 California state budget allocation of $40 million for firearms relinquishment efforts;

• Drafting the first toolkit on the intersection of firearms, domestic violence, and child custody for family law practitioners and judges with Pierce’s Pledge;

• Providing trainings to 2000+ judges, attorneys, law enforcement officers, mental health practitioners, victim advocates, and others on extreme risk protection orders/gun violence restraining orders; firearms relinquishment policies; and the role civil and criminal remedies can play in fairly reducing risk and increasing safety;

• Developing the first international workplace policy addressing domestic violence for a multi-national U.S. based corporation in the late 1990s;

• Participating in amicus briefs in support of overturning the 5^th circuit ruling in U.S. vs. Rahimi which the U.S. Supreme Court did in June 2024 when it upheld the federal firearms prohibition for civil domestic violence restraining/protective orders (my article on the case from 2023 can be found here)

• Collaborating with the statewide domestic violence coalition on this toolkit to help distinguish between the various civil firearm prohibiting remedies available in California. 

From 1999-2017, I worked with the Judicial Council of California staffing family law, domestic violence, and access to justice projects and developing rules of court, providing judicial and court staff training, and drafting key court procedures.

I also served as an adjunct professor teaching domestic violence law at Golden Gate University School of Law from 2016 until 2022, and previously taught courses on race, gender, and law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Education & Background

I have a law degree (J.D.) and a Masters in Social Work (MSW) from Washington University in St. Louis, where I pursued both degrees simultaneously, bringing a cohesive and comprehensive perspective to my legal policy and consulting work. I am is a mediator, a member of the State Bar of California, and sometimes serves as an expert witness/consultant in family law and domestic violence cases.

While in school, I began co-presenting unlearning bias workshops, a foundation that has enabled me to focus on the importance of centering equity and the experiences of victims and survivors in violence prevention work.

My first job after graduate school was working with families in contested child custody cases; I subsequently opened a private practice representing children, mediating family cases, and consulting on domestic violence matters. Early in my career, as I listened to the stories clients and litigants shared, I became committed to changing systems, laws, and procedures to better serve the needs of those who have experienced violence and abuse. This built on my experience during graduate school when I co-founded one of the first organizations in the U.S. to focus on assisting those experiencing sexual harassment with navigating legal processes and identifying what they needed to heal. My work for 17 years with the largest court system in the world – California’s judicial branch – additionally provided me experiences around supporting conflict resolution and court processes that improve outcome for our communities and support the important work judges, court staff, and others undertake to make justice and fairness accessible and meaningful.