Family Law

Clients who are interested in achieving the best results for their family through adoption, custody, visitation, foster care, wills, estate planning, and probate.

• Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
• Restraining Orders

• Child Abuse
• Domestic Violence
• Elder Abuse
• Sexual Abuse

• Adoptions
• Child Support
• Children's Rights
• Custody
• Foster Care
• Paternity
• State Child Protection
• Visitation

• Civil Unions
• Domestic Partnerships
• Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender Rights
• Living Together/Cohabitation
• Marriage
• Power of Attorney

• Powers of Attorney
• Advanced Health Care Directive
• Healthcare Power of Attorney
• Healthcare Proxy
• Tax Planning

Divorce

Clients who are interested in achieving the best results for their family through divorce mediation or collaborative practice.

• Alimony/Palimony/Spousal Support
• Annulment
• Child Support
• Custody/Visitation Rights
• Division of Property
• Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR)
• Restraining Orders
• Uncontested Divorce
• Collaborative Law

NY, May 1997
Bar Number: 2825578

All New York Courts

Family & Divorce Council of Greater New York, International Association of Collaborative Professionals, National Lawyers' Guild, NYS Council on Divorce Mediation, NYS Dispute Resolution Association, NY Association of Collaborative Professionals, NYC Bar Association, NY County Lawyers' Association, CUNY Law's Community Law Resource Network
(CLRN - Family Law Coordinator)

I always exceed the required amount of continuing legal education hours by taking continuing legal education seminars to stay current on family law and estates law, as well as continuing education seminars on topics related to family and probate mediation.

I have also taken graduate level courses in psychology and social work at New York University, and in world religion at Harvard Divinity School.

"Should Joint Custody by an Option for Family Court Mediation Program Participants?" NYC Law Review, in the Summer of 2008; blog at http://joyrosenthallaw.blogspot.com.

1. LS wanted to adopt her 8 year old granddaughter who she has been raising for several years. I helped her move through the process and complete all the paperwork, and coached her through the home study to get that accomplished. The adoption was happy for everyone.

2. OT and MA, both in their 20s wanted to work out the visitation schedule for their 5 year old son. In mediation, they both acknowledged that they had experienced a lot of pressure because the mother had a serious medical condition. After several emotional sessions, they were able to acknowledge how hard it had been for the other, and to work out a visitation schedule that worked for both of them.

3. MW, a gay foster parent, needed representation against the State, which had removed his foster children in favor of his ex-partner. After conference, we demanded an administrative hearing, which involved 7 witnesses and about 25 hours of testimony over the course of 4 months. The children were returned to his home and we are almost at the phase of adoption.

4. When wife MH asked for a divorce, WW needed some acknowledgment that she had abandoned him. Once she did, he was able to work out a settlement for their divorce.

5. NO and AN, a young, healthy, unmarried lesbian couple, needed wills to make sure that they would leave their assets to each other. We wrote their wills and had them properly executed. We also wrote their living wills, health care proxies and springing power of attorneys, as well to protect them in case of incapacity.

6. JB and KB, another lesbian couple, just had a baby and needed a second parent adoption. We are working in the process of getting that completed.

1

New York

I went out on my own in the fall of 2006, and am still a solo practitioner. I provide mediation and collaborative law services to families who are reorganizing, through adoption, marriage, domestic partnership, separation, divorce, or grieving.
I love to work with "non-traditional" families, including same-sex partners. I also tend to work with musicians, writers and those in other creative professions.

From 1997-2006, I was honored to serve as a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society's Juvenile Rights Practice in the Bronx and Brooklyn. I represented hundreds of children and youth in adoption, custody, visitation, abuse, neglect, foster care and delinquency criminal cases. I developed extensive investigation, interviewing, trial preparation, advocacy and courtroom skills, as well as the ability to manage many complex cases at once. I was one of a few attorneys selected to spend one year in the Appeals unit, researching and writing legal briefs on child welfare and delinquency appeals.
From 2001-2001, I took a year off from Legal Aid because I was selected to be a Fellow at the NYU School of Law Family Defense Clinic, where I supervised law students who were representing parents. At the end of the year, 3 children were returned home to their parents who would never have gone home had it not been for the work of the students.
From 1996-1997, I worked with youth in the Legal Services Center at The Door; and as Legal Coordinator of Legal Information for Families Today.

2002-2003: I was selected to represent Legal Aid on a group project which resulted in the publication, Time Running Out: Teens in Foster Care which examined the conditions in NYC's group home system. After this was published, NYC practically eliminated the group home structure as a model for housing youth.
2000: I served as a Diversity Trainer for the Legal Aid Society, leading workshops on cultural competence for my peers.
1997-2000 Board of Directors, Legal Information for Families Today
1999-present Board of Directors, Contemporary African American Music Organization.

(646) 607-2277

Monday through Friday
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Some evening appointments available.

Yes

No

I charge $2,000 for adoptions.

My regular hourly rate is $350 for legal or mediation services.

I am happy to speak with you on the phone for a short time to get a sense of your legal needs and to explain my approach. For mediation, I prefer to speak with you both at once.

I take a retainer for civil and divorce cases, not for mediation. It is usually about $5,000 for divorces and $1,500 for civil matters.