1L with hopes of Family Law/Matrimonial practice. Forum

[Anonymous User]

Obtained a summer 1L internship at the Supreme Court level in NY. It will most likely be with the Judge in the matrimonial part. Is this the best start for me? Where should I be thinking of working further down the road? Thanks everyone!!

[downinDtown]

Obtained a summer 1L internship at the Supreme Court level in NY. It will most likely be with the Judge in the matrimonial part. Is this the best start for me? Where should I be thinking of working further down the road? Thanks everyone!!

For further down the road: get married; do/say something really stupid (multiple times for maximum effect); get divorced; represent yourself; utilize your skills by representing yourself; save on legal fees and maybe lose less than 50%.

Joking aside, working with the judge 1L summer is a good start. Doing something that you're not sure about can be educational: it can help you learn something new and help you decide if you like it or not. You're not tying yourself down by doing a more specific area with the judge (since you want to stay in the same generally related field). You can also make some good connections with practicing lawyers in that area, and next summer try to get 1 or two clerkships with firms that have good practices in the area that interest you.

[Anonymous User]

Thank you so much!

How can I find a list of small/mid/big/boutique family law firms in my area? When I use NALP I get "zero" results, which is odd...

[Anonymous User]

Thank you so much!

How can I find a list of small/mid/big/boutique family law firms in my area? When I use NALP I get "zero" results, which is odd...

Likely explanation is that firms large enough to be listed on NALP don't usually have "family" law practices (Trusts & Estates notwithstanding). There's lots of stuff on TLS to assist those seeking information about smaller firms though. You could also run the NALP search without a practice area selected and then visit the individual firms' sites to see their practice groups.

[charcop]

Try Martindale.com. You can do a search based on firm size and areas of practice.

[downinDtown]

Also, consider using something like Resume Launchpad to find firms. It looks archaic and I haven't used it to actually send resumes, because I find mail merge is easy enough to do on my own and I liked to customize my cover letter and resume, but you can sign in (it's free), select firm size, a city/zip/state, choose how far from that area you'd consider looking, and then select a practice and it returns a list of firms (saw you can sort to Family law, Divorce law, Elder Law, et al).

You can even check the box and look at firms and it gives you approximate practice areas and firm size. Up to this point, it's all free. If you wanted to use the service after that to do a mail-merge to all those firms you select, that's when you have to pay (and you'll have to figure that out if you're interested, because I've never done it).

Play around with the parameters to narrow down your search, and then use other more established/reputable sources to get more targeted/current information. I'd just recommending using Resume Launchpad to give you a broad pool from which you can narrow down and hunt for firms that meet your criteria.

Did Small & Midsize / NYC / 20 miles / Family law. Here's what came back on the first page:

Abramson & Morak | New York
Adelola Sheralynn Fields Obalanlege | Staten Island
Adria S. Hillman | New York
Advocate & Lichtenstein | New York
Alan L. Zegas | Chatham
Allan J. Berke | New York
Andrea Vacca | New York
Andrew A. Bokser | Brooklyn
Andrew J. Spinnell | New York
Andrew M. Wolfenson | Union
Angiuli Katkin & Gentile | Staten Island
Anish A. Joshi | New Brunswick
Anne-Louise DePalo | Staten Island
Ansell Zaro Grimm & Aaron | Newark
Anthony Carbone | Jersey City
Arkin Kaplan Rice | New York
Axelrod, Fingerhut & Dennis | New York
Ballon Stoll Bader & Nadler | New York
Becker Ross | New York
Bender & Rosenthal | New York
Bendit Weinstock | West Orange
Berger Attorney | New York
Berkman Bottger & Rodd | New York
Berkowitz, Lichtstein, Kuritsky, Giasullo & Gross | West Orange
Bernard G. Post | New York
Bernfeld, DeMatteo & Bernfeld | New York
Bhavini Tara Shah | Edison
Bonnie P. Josephs | New York
Borstein & Sheinbaum | New York
Brady, Klein & Weissman | New York

[sophiahenry001]

SPAM

[reasonable_man]

NALP does not list family firms because they are all too small to be on NALP.

Family law is a very regional practice. You have to decide where in NY you're going to practice and apply for jobs/internships at small local firms that practice family law in the area where you want to practice when you graduate LS.

[BeenDidThat]

Obtained a summer 1L internship at the Supreme Court level in NY. It will most likely be with the Judge in the matrimonial part. Is this the best start for me? Where should I be thinking of working further down the road? Thanks everyone!!

If you have an adjunct prof at the school who teaches family law on the side while having a family law practice, it might be a good idea to reach out to them. Not as a prospective employee at their firm, but ask if they can give you a sense of the firms in the area who do the kind of work you're interested in. The family law bar in most places is fairly close-knit, and if they like you, they will probably try to help point you in the right direction.

[spleenworship]

Obtained a summer 1L internship at the Supreme Court level in NY. It will most likely be with the Judge in the matrimonial part. Is this the best start for me? Where should I be thinking of working further down the road? Thanks everyone!!

If you have an adjunct prof at the school who teaches family law on the side while having a family law practice, it might be a good idea to reach out to them. Not as a prospective employee at their firm, but ask if they can give you a sense of the firms in the area who do the kind of work you're interested in. The family law bar in most places is fairly close-knit, and if they like you, they will probably try to help point you in the right direction.

This. Also, your family law professor, even if not practicing, may have contacts or know the best family law firms in the area. Sometimes they get consulted by lawyers from these firms when the firm has a case going up on appeal. While this is rare in family law, it does happen, and they'll know who they'd want representing them.