Matrimonial Lawyers Alliance of New Jersey
The Matrimonial Lawyers Alliance (MLA) was founded in 2001, and is local only to New Jersey. The MLA consists of “affiliates” who form a group of sophisticated, elite matrimonial lawyers admitted to practice law in the State of New Jersey.
As an initial requirement, a lawyer must be identified by Woodward-White (now Best Lawyers © as a best matrimonial lawyer in New Jersey. The process for inclusion into Best Lawyers is stated at www.bestlawyers.com/about/methodology.aspx. Then, as a second step, a candidate must be recommended by the Admissions Committee. As a final step to admission, the candidate’s admission is voted upon by the entire membership. Only upon a positive vote of more than 50% of the membership is a candidate offered to become an Affiliate. Membership is limited to a maximum of 50 Affiliates, and only a maximum of three individuals can be recommended by the Admissions Committee.
The purpose of this informal group is to better our understanding of the practice of matrimonial law. The MLA was also granted amicus status by the New Jersey Supreme Court in the landmark Weishaus case (as well as subsequent cases) in which we were pleased to learn that the Court had taken our arguments quite seriously. While the MLA consists of many seasoned and senior practitioners, our numbers have grown with younger, up-and-coming practitioners who have substantial matrimonial experience. A quick review of the credentials of our affiliates reflects the following statistics.
|
Credential
|
Percent of Affiliates | |
| Affiliates who started in judicial clerkships | 38% | |
| Fellows: American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers | 69% | |
| Members of the American Bar Association | 76% | |
| Members of the NJSAB Family Law Section | ||
| Served on the Executive Committee | 83% | |
| Served as Chair of the Section | 59% | |
| Recipients of the Tishcler Award | 48% | |
| Served on Matrimonial Early Settlement Programs | 86% | |
| Past of Present Members of the New Jersey Supreme Court | ||
| Family Practice Committee | 59% | |
| Members of various New Jersey County Bar | ||
| Association Family Law Committees | 55% | |
| Served as Committee Chair | 34% | |
| Past of Present Members of other New Jersey Supreme Court Committees | 48% | |
| Committee on Certification of Family Lawyers | 34% | |
| Affiliates who possess “AV” ratings by Martindale-Hubbell | 83% | |
| Affiliates who are “Masters” in Inns of Court | 38% | |
| Affiliates who have argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court | 52% | |
Every affiliate has lectured and made other presentations to lawyers and the public at large at state-wide seminars, county seminars, law schools, and other venues of teaching.
In short, the MLA is comprised of qualified matrimonial lawyers who enjoy the experience of working together and camaraderie of learning from each other.