Hot Tips in Family Law 2026

Presenters

Hon. Michael R. Casale, (Ret.)

Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis

is Of Counsel to Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis LLP with offices in Roseland and Iselin, New Jersey, where he concentrates his practice in alternate dispute resolution of family law and complex civil and commercial cases. Appointed to the bench in 1996, he formerly served in the Criminal, Civil and Family Divisions in the Essex Vicinage, including time served as Acting Presiding Judge in the Criminal and Family Divisions.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Casale previously served as Assistant Township Attorney and Councilman for the Township of Bloomfield. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association Family Law Section, the NJSBA Cannabis Law Special Committee and the Essex County Bar Association.

Judge Casale has lectured for ICLE, the New Jersey State Bar Association and other organizations. He is a member of the Barry Croland Family Law and Brennan-Vanderbilt American Inns of Court and has been quoted in The New York Times.

Judge Casale received his B.A., cum laude, from the University of Connecticut and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Seton Hall University School of Law, where he was the recipient of the Peter J. Rodino Award. He was Law Clerk to the Honorable Nicholas J. Scalera.

Hon. Bonnie J. Mizdol (Ret.)

Ferro Labella & Weiss LLC

of the firm Ferro Labella & Weiss, L.L.C. in Hackensack, New Jersey, focuses in mediation and arbitration, and was formerly the Assignment Judge of Bergen County and sat in Hackensack, New Jersey. She was also Presiding Judge, Family Part, Bergen County, from 2008-2015, and was in private practice for 24 years prior to her appointment to the Superior Court in 2006.

Prior to her appointment to the Superior Court bench, Judge Mizdol served as a municipal court judge for 15 years. She was President of the Bergen County Municipal Judges Association and the Bergen County Bar Foundation, Chair of the District IIA Ethics Committee and Co-Chair of the Bergen County Family Law Committee, and has been a member of the Bergen County Family Law Executive Committee. Judge Mizdol is Past Chair of the Supreme Court Family Practice Committee, the Conference of New Jersey Family Part Judges and the Ad Hoc Committee on Arbitration of Family Part Matters. She has been Chair of the Supreme Court Judiciary-Surrogates Liaison Committee and the Post-Pandemic Committee on Resuming Jury Trials, and a member of the Statewide Committee on Court Security. The New Jersey Designated Representative for the International Hague Network of Judges from 2017 through her retirement, she has served on the Judicial Council and the faculty of the Judicial College, and has taught for the Management Skills Training program for Presiding Judges and the New Judges’ Orientation Program (CJOP).

Judge Mizdol received her B.A. from Montclair State College and her J.D. from Seton Hall Law School.
(8/23)

Rita M. Aquilio, Esq.

Treasurer, New JerseySBA Family Law Section
Lawrence Law

Alyssa Bartholomew, Esq.

Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC, Roseland

Francesca P. Buarne, Esq.

, Red Bank

Jessica Budrock, Esq.

Budrock Law Firm, LLC, Linwood

Daniel Burton, Esq.

Lawrence Law, LLC, Watchung

Stilianos M. Cambilis, Esq.

, Bridgewater

Alix Claps, Esq.

Heymann & Fletcher, Mount Freedom

Vito Colasurdo, Jr., Esq.

Colasurdo Law LLC, Red Bank

LaDonna M. Cousins, Esq.

Williams Law Group, LLC, Short Hills

Carmen M. Diaz, Esq.

Certified By the Supreme Court of New Jersey As a Matrimonial Attorney
Einhorn, Barbarito, Frost, Botwinick, Nunn & Musmanno, PC

Robert A. Epstein, Esq.

Manzi Epstein Lomurro & DeCataldo, LLC, West Orange

Bonnie C. Frost, Esq.

Chair, Ethics Diversionary Program
Einhorn, Barbarito, Frost, Botwinick, Nunn & Musmanno, P.C., Parsippany

Sean Gaynor, Esq.

Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman, PC, Scotch Plains

Kimberly Greenfield, Esq.

Partner, Musulin Groves & Greenfield, Mount Holly

Christina M. Groves, Esq.

Partner, Musulin Law Firm LLC, Mount Holly

Nicole A. Kobis, Esq.

Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook and Cooper, P.C., Westfield

Ronald G. Lieberman, Esq.

Rigden Lieberman Mignogna, Marlton

Linda A. Mainenti Walsh, Esq.

Linda Mainenti Walsh LLC, Morristown

Immediate Past Chair, NJSBA Women in the Profession Section
President Elect, Morris County Bar Association
Past President, Morris County Bar Foundation
Co-chair, NJSBA Lawyer Well-Being Committee
Co-chair, Legal Education Committee
Linda Mainenti Walsh LLC, Morristown

Ashley Vallillo Manzi, Esq.

Manzi Epstein Lomurro & DeCataldo, LLC, West Orange

Amanda J. Massey, Esq.

Pashman Stein Walder Hayden P.C., Holmdel

Amy L. Miller, Esq.

Singleton LLC, Parsippany

Kelsey D. Mulholland, Esq.

Cohn Lifland Pearlman Herrmann & Knopf LLP, Saddle Brook

Tamires M. Oliveira, Esq.

Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis, Newark

Victoria Paone Rosa, Esq.

Paone Zaleski & Murphy, Red Bank

Louis Ragone, Esq.

Stark & Stark, Hamilton

Maritza Rodriguez, Esq.

Rodriguez Law Firm LLC, Newark

Lauren Sharp, Esq.

Haber Silver Russoniello & Dunn, Florham Park

Barry S. Sobel, Esq.

Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis, Iselin

is an associate with Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis LLP in Roseland, New Jersey, where he concentrates his practice in family law and civil litigation. His experience includes complex commercial litigation, business and shareholder disputes, employment law issues and general equity matters.

Mr. Sobel is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York, and before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. He has been a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association Family Law Section and the Technology Subcommittee of the Young Lawyers Section. A member of the Barry Croland Family Law American Inn of Court, he has lectured for ICLE and is the recipient of several honors.

Mr. Sobel received his B.A. from the University of Maryland and his J.D., cum laude, from New York Law School, where he was Senior Staff Editor of the New York Law School Law Review. He was a judicial intern to the Honorable Frank M. Ciuffani, New Jersey Superior Court, Middlesex County, Chancery Division; and the Honorable Freda L. Wolfson, United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Lynne Strober, Esq.

Mandelbaum Barrett, Roseland

Kristi L. Terranova, Esq.

Einhorn, Barbarito, Frost, Botwinick, Nunn & Musmanno, PC, Parsippany

Amy Wechsler, Esq.

Lawrence Law, Watchung

Certified as a Matrimonial Law Attorney by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, practices with Lawrence Law with offices in Watchung and Red Bank, New Jersey. She concentrates her practice in family law, mediation, arbitration, parenting coordination and collaborative divorce, and provides mediation services privately and through court programs.

Accredited as a Divorce and Family Mediator by the New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators (NJAPM) and a trained Collaborative Divorce Attorney, Ms. Wechsler serves on the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Family Law Executive Committee (where she has been Chair of a Task Force on Parenting Coordination and the Children’s Rights Subcommittee) and is Past President of the Somerset County Bar Association. She completed the Arbitration Training through the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and is Past President of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts-New Jersey Chapter (AFCC-NJ), an interdisciplinary association of professionals dedicated to improving the lives of children and families through the resolution of family conflict. Ms. Wechsler has been Co-President of the Association for Advancement of Collaborative Practice and a Board Member of the New Jersey Council on Collaborative Practice Groups. She is also Past Chair of the District XIII Attorney Ethics Committee.

Ms. Wechsler is the 2005 recipient of the Professional Lawyer of the Year Award for Somerset County bestowed by the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism. She is a frequent lecturer and author on family law topics for ICLE, NJAPM, AFCC-NJ, the Association of Divorce Financial Planners (ADFP) and other organizations, and her articles have appeared in the New Jersey Family Lawyer.

Ms. Wechsler received her B.S. from the University of Connecticut, her M.S.W. in Clinical Social Work from Rutgers University and her law degree from Rutgers School of Law-Newark.

Michael J. Weil, Esq.

Skoloff & Wolfe, Livingston

Victoria A. Wilton, Esq.

Stark & Stark, Hamilton

Michelle A. Wortmann, Esq.

Sarno Da Costa D'Aniello Maceri Webb LLC, Roseland

Amanda M. Yu, Esq.

Drisgula Divorce & Family Law, Wayne