New York Divorce Law 101 (2021 Edition)

Alan Figenbaum | Blank Rome LLP

Alan is an experienced matrimonial and family law attorney who assists a diverse range of professionals and their spouses, including business owners, lawyers, investors, and entertainers, on their family law matters, with a notable focus on evaluating the optimal strategies to manage and resolve complex financial and custody disputes. He is well-versed in managing agreements (separation, prenuptial, and postnuptial) to create a framework for his clients’ futures, and approaches dispute resolution with an eye toward facilitating cooperation and reducing conflict, making every effort to settle cases out of court.

Understanding that divorce can affect the trajectory of a person’s life, Alan focuses on his clients’ long-term financial and familial best interests. His multifaceted approach has included:

• Working with financial experts to identify and define the scope of assets acquired by a spouse before the marriage, thereby eliminating litigation over whether those assets are part of the marital pot.
• Resolving the disposition of a spouse’s interest in a business without resorting to a pro forma approach that assumes complex valuation of that interest is always required.
• Reaching agreement on the payment of expenses while a divorce action is pending, without the need for costly, interim support motion practice.
• Negotiating interim parenting schedules by empowering parents and not substituting attorney judgment for that of the parents.
• Settling contentious custody disputes without involving court-appointed professionals, sparing the family from the potentially lasting effects of domestic relations litigation.
• Prioritizing the value clients place on financial independence both during and after the divorce action concludes, including in the case of the nonmonied spouse evaluating the financially feasibility of retaining the marital home.

Alan also has significant courtroom experience, including first-chair trial experience in domestic relations matters and, at an early stage in his career, examining witnesses before the U.S. International Trade Commission. He also speaks and writes frequently on matters of family law.

Marilyn Chinitz | Blank Rome LLP

Marilyn Chinitz is a formidable advocate for her clients, guiding them through some of the most challenging transitions in their lives. She concentrates her practice in matrimonial law, particularly high-net-worth divorce actions. Marilyn is a skillful negotiator whose numerous high-profile and celebrity cases have received national and international attention. She has more than 35 years of experience in every facet of family law, including:

• Complex divorce actions involving diverse transactional matters
• High-conflict custody cases
• International custody cases including the return of abducted children in proceedings filed under the Hague Convention
• Premarital agreements and postnuptial agreements
• Same-sex divorce/dissolution matters
• Paternity cases

Known for her straightforward, creative, and responsive approach to representing her clients, Marilyn is as successful in litigation as in settlement negotiations. She has argued winning appeals in the appellate courts of New York, and in trials before the family court and the supreme courts of New York.

When high-profile marital matters or recent changes in the law make headlines, Marilyn is a sought-after commentator. She is often quoted in print, and has appeared on local and national television and radio shows including:

• NBC’s The Today Show
• ABC News 20/20
• Inside Edition
• HLN’s Headline News
• Hollywood Heat

Outside the Firm: Marilyn is the proud mother of two accomplished adult children. She loves cycling and participates in fundraising rides and organizes travel to international destinations.

Brett Ward | Blank Rome LLP

Brett Ward concentrates his practice in all areas of matrimonial and family law, including divorce, paternity, custody, and child protective matters. Brett has extensive experience in negotiating prenuptial, separation, and settlement agreements. He has significant litigation and trial experience in New York’s Family and Supreme Courts. Brett also has experience with international custody and child support matters. Brett has also successfully appeared before the appellate courts. Brett has served as a mediator and as an expert witness on New York family law issues.

Steven Goldfeder | Blank Rome LLP
Steven has negotiated and drafted many pre- and post-nuptial agreements for high visibility and high net worth individuals with absolute discretion. He has lectured and served as a panelist for the New York State Bar Association CLE Seminar on Basic Matrimonial Practice. Steven has received the highest possible rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been named one of Ten Leaders of Matrimonial Law, age 45 and under, in New York City.

Steven Goldfeder represents clients in all aspects of matrimonial law, including:

• Divorce
• Mediation
• Distribution of property
• Support
• Paternity
• Custody and visitation

Lois J. Liberman | Blank Rome LLP

As an accomplished trial lawyer, artful negotiator, and empathetic yet no-nonsense counselor, Lois Liberman represents high-net-worth individuals, prominent figures, business leaders, and celebrities who turn to her to navigate the sensitive and increasingly complex issues and dynamics facing couples and modern families. Ranked by Chambers High Net Worth 2021 and noted as “outstanding and strategic,” Lois is a fierce advocate for her clients, delivers sage advice, a hard-earned perspective, and protection in every facet of matrimonial and family law, including:

• Prenuptial agreements
• Separation agreements
• Postnuptial agreements
• Equitable distribution involving a myriad of asset types with highly complex financial evaluations and discovery
• Custody litigation
• Paternity agreements

Among her pioneering accomplishments, Lois represented a litigant in the first reported same-sex divorce case in 2008 (New York State, C.C. vs. M.C.). Lois served as chair/co-chair of Blank Rome’s Matrimonial and Family Law practice group, one of the largest in the country, for five years. With its bi-coastal presence, the practice is renowned for negotiating complex, challenging financial and custody cases, while maintaining decorum in what may sometimes become “uncivil proceedings.” A champion for empowering female attorneys, she has served on Blank Rome’s Women’s Steering Committee and Diversity Committee and is a member of the firm’s Women’s Forum, which aims to enhance the professional and business development of the female attorneys and foster their success.

She is often sought as a go-to source for comment on high-profile marriages, divorces, custody, and other family law matters. She has appeared multiple times on national television shows including The Today Show, Good Morning America, and Entertainment Tonight and has been featured on and in numerous media including NBC News, New York Post, People, E! Online, The Huffington Post, Fox News, and MTV News.

Currently, Lois hosts a virtual salon called Look Ahead by Lois Liberman for current and “graduated” clients that addresses common but complex issues that many married, separated, divorcing, and divorced people face. Joining Lois for each interactive session is a guest speaker, including prominent relationship experts, allowing participants to understand both the legal options and emotional perspectives of each situation and take away strategies that aim to successfully address the issue at hand. A member of the New York County Women’s Bar Association, Lois served as co-chair of the Judiciary and Matrimonial & Family Law Committees and was an appointed member of the Interdisciplinary Forum on Mental Health and Family Law. She has also given numerous lectures in the areas of prenuptial and separation agreements, as well as custody matters for various New York Bar Associations and the Association of Divorce Financial Planners.

For the past decade, Lois has been named a “Super Lawyer” in Family Law by New York Super Lawyers—Metro Edition and was listed as one of the “Top 500 Leading Family Lawyers” by Lawdragon in 2020. Lois consistently receives the highest possible rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

Session I – Client Intake Procedures & Initial Filings and Pleadings | 10:00am – 11:00am
1. Client Interviews | 10:00am – 10:03am
2. Retainer Letter | 10:03am – 10:06am
3. Ethics on Statement of Clients Rights and Responsibilities: you can’t sleep with your client | 10:06am – 10:26am
4. Requirement of sending out itemized bills | 10:26am – 10:28am
5. Disqualification | 10:28am – 10:30am
6. Summons | 10:30am – 10:32am
7. Verified Complaint & Verified Answer | 10:32am – 10:34am
8. Automatic Orders | 10:34am – 10:36am
9. Jurisdiction | 10:36am – 10:39am
10. Residency requirements | 10:39am – 10:45am
11. Grounds for divorce | 10:45am – 10:50
12. Net Worth Statements | 10:50am – 11:00am

Break | 11:00am – 11:10am

Session II – Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements, Discovery and Settlement Agreements | 11:10am – 12:10pm
1. 3101(d) Notices | 11:10am – 11:22am
2. Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act – CPLR 3119 | 11:22am – 11:34am
3. Rules relating to depositions: ethical considerations on not interfering and advising your client not to answer | 11:34am – 11:46am
4. Digital Spying: ethical considerations on attorneys’ duty to protect client’s information – social security and bank account numbers | 11:46am – 11:58am
5. Agreements – Prenuptial Agreements, Postnuptial Agreements, Settlement Agreements | 11:58am – 12:10pm

Break | 12:10pm – 12:20pm

Session III – Child Custody and Equitable Distribution | 12:20pm – 1:20pm
1. Child Custody | 12:20pm – 12:40pm
2. Ethical considerations | 12:40pm – 12:50pm
3. Equitable Distribution | 12:50pm – 1:20pm

Lunch Break | 1:20pm – 1:50pm

Session IV – Child Support & Maintenance | 1:50pm – 2:35pm
1. Child support and spousal maintenance | 1:50pm – 2:00pm
2. Practical application of the statute | 2:00pm – 2:10pm
3. Formulas for determining temporary and permanent child support and maintenance | 2:10pm – 2:20pm
4. How to calculate child support and maintenance in settlement agreements | 2:20pm – 2:35pm

Session V – Injunctive Relief Procedures, Restraining Orders (Including Order of Protection) and Alternative Dispute Resolutions, Options and Procedures | 2:35pm – 3:45pm
1. Restraining orders: injunctive relief, orders of protections, rules surrounding the procedure of notifying | 2:35pm – 2:50pm

Break | 2:50pm – 3:00pm

2. Restraining orders: injunctive relief, orders of protections, rules surrounding the procedure of notifying | 2:50pm – 3:05pm
3. Exclusive occupancy request and requirements | 3:05pm – 3:20pm
4. Alternative dispute resolution options and mediation | 3:20pm – 3:25pm
5. Arbitrations: pros and cons, pitfalls | 3:25pm – 3:35pm