Renowned for his experience, skill and personality, Mr. Biel is universally regarded as one of southern New Jersey's premier matrimonial attorneys. The Westchester County, N.Y. native is considered a straight-shooter, and a lawyer's lawyer-effective, thorough and the keeper of exceptionally high standards.

New Jersey Monthly has selected him as one of New Jersey's 100 Best Attorneys. He has consistently been listed in the Woodward & White publication of The Best Lawyers in America.

For Mr. Biel it was a circuitous route to the top of matrimonial law. Raised in a family in which intellectual curiosity was a way of life, he seemed on his way to becoming a college professor. He entered the PhD program at Brown, majoring in modern European history. The tumultuous events of the 60s – the Civil Rights movement, assassinations and the Vietnam War – spurred him to the law, where “what I did would hopefully mirror changing social morals and principles.” He enrolled at Rutgers Law School, which he regarded as one of the most progressive law schools in the country.

The Vietnam war escalated, and Mr. Biel was drafted. He spent a year in Vietnam serving as a combat journalist for Stars & Stripes; he received the Bronze Star and the Armed Forces Honor Medal. Mr. Biel finished law school on the GI Bill and, in the early 70s, went to Atlantic City to practice. Mr. Biel's Vietnam experience had a deep impact and gave him real perspective: Today, as adversaries battle over divorce matters, Biel will remark, “Look, this isn't cancer or brain surgery, and it sure as hell isn't a war zone.”

Biel has practiced largely on his own or with a small cadre of attorneys. He attributes part of his success to the region's casino-driven economic growth. He enjoys tennis and skiing; he lives with his wife in Northfield, New Jersey; they have five children.

Mr. Biel has served in important and prestigious professional positions throughout his career.  He is a former President of the Atlantic County Bar Association and former Chair of its Judicial Appointments Committee. As an active member of the New Jersey State Bar Association he is a former Chair of the State Bar’s Family Law Section; Past Chair of the Professional Responsibility Committee; and Past Vice- Chair of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee.  He is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the prestigious American Bar Foundation. He is certified as a Matrimonial Lawyer by the New Jersey Supreme Court, being in the first class of attorneys so certified.

Mr. Biel Serves as an Emeritus Editor of the New Jersey Family Lawyer for which he has authored and continues to author numerous cutting edge articles on issues involving all economic facets of divorce as well as custody, interstate relocation, ethics and legal malpractice.   Mr. Biel has lectured extensively for many professional organizations including the New Jersey State Bar Association, Institute for Continuing Legal Education (New Jersey ICLE), American Trial Lawyers Association and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. In 2005 he received the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Saul Tischler Award for lifetiime contributions to the advancement of Family Law in New Jersey.

Mr. Biel attended Bates College; Brown University Graduate School; and Rutgers University School of Law.

BIEL’S OBSERVATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES

After more than 30 years, I'm still excited about practicing Family Law. This area of the law allows you to utilize the entire spectrum of academic and social skills – oral advocacy in the courtroom, psychology in settlement negotiations, social science in custody disputes, mathematics in tax and valuation cases, medicine in employment issues, language arts in appellate persuasion and even foreign language skills

Each day is an adventure filled with humor, sadness, some angst and some exhilaration. It's always a roller coaster ride as you deal with the emotions of divorce and custody matters. You see clients at their worst, and one of your responsibilities is to try to diffuse the emotions of fear and anger so that the focus can be directed toward resolving the case.

To be effective in this field you need to have a reputation as a tough advocate, be comfortable with the Rules of Court and Rules of Evidence, and be willing to leave no stone unturned for your client.

Divorce is not a sports event or a television quiz show. By definition, there are no winners. Homes are sold, assets divided, standards of living adjusted and children impacted. And that's the best you can hope for – as opposed to the more extreme cases, which involve domestic violence, interstate custody relocation, tax fraud and parental alienation. Most us who've done this kind of work for a while have seen it all.

The best family lawyers I know never stop understanding how important every case is to every client. Firmness and fairness balanced with creativity and compassion. The best lawyers I know reflect Bismarck’s precept:  “An iron hand in a velvet glove.”