2024 Family Law Symposium

Presenters

Hon. Daniel H. Brown, J.S.C.

Middlesex County

Hon. Julie Lee Kim, J.S.C.

Superior Court of New Jersey

Hon. Amy Lefkowitz, J.S.C.

Bergen

Hon. Marie E. Lihotz, PJAD (Ret.)

Archer & Greiner PC

Hon. Julio L. Mendez, A.J.S.C. (Ret.)

Stockton University

is Senior Contributing Analyst for the Hughes Center, Stockton College, in Galloway Township, New Jersey. In 2022 he retired as Assignment Judge for Atlantic and Cape May Counties (Vicinage 1), where he oversaw the efficient operation of the courts in those counties and sat in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The State’s first Hispanic Assignment Judge, Judge Mendez was first assigned to the Vicinage 15 Criminal Division for 2 years, then spent 7 years in the Family Division and in 2005 was assigned as the Family Part’s Presiding Judge for the Cumberland/Gloucester/Salem vicinage. He was appointed Assignment Judge effective November 1, 2011.
n
nJudge Mendez is Past Chair of the New Jersey Municipal Court Regionalization Subcommittee of the Supreme Court Municipal Court Working Group and Past Chair of the Supreme Court Committee on Municipal Court Operations, Fines, and Fees. Having served as Chair of the Drug Court Working Group, he has been a member of the New Jersey Judiciary Judicial Council, the Judiciary’s Management and Operations Committee, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the Board of the National Association for Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers (NAPCO). Judge Mendez has been Chair of the Children in Court Committee of the Conference of Family Presiding Judges and a member of the Supreme Court Family Practice Committee and a number of other state-wide conferences and committees. He has also been an instructor at the Judicial College.
n
nJudge Mendez received his B.A. from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) and his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law-Camden.
n(8/23)

Hon. Raquel Vallejo, J.S.C.

Superior Court of NJ

Rita M. Aquilio, Esq.

Lawrence Law, Watchung

Robin C. Bogan, Esq.

Pallarino & Bogan LLP, Parsippany

Cheryl E. Connors, Esq.

Tonneman & Connors, LLC, Eatontown

is a Partner in Tonneman & Connors, LLC with offices in Eatontown and East Brunswick, New Jersey. She concentrates her practice in family law, with an emphasis in issues of divorce, child custody, visitation, child support, equitable distribution, palimony, adoption, paternity, domestic violence, prenuptial agreements and collaborative divorce. In 2016 she appeared before the New Jersey Supreme Court on behalf of the New Jersey State Bar Association in the matter of In re Adoption of a Child by J.E.V.
n
nAdmitted to practice in New Jersey and before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Ms. Connors is Vice Chair of the Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association, a member of the NJSBA’s Solo and Small-Firm Section, has served on the New Jersey Supreme Court Family Practice Committee for the 2017-2019 and 2019-2021 terms, and is serving on the Committee for the 2021-2023 term. She is also a member of the Middlesex County and Monmouth Bar Associations, and the Collaborative Divorce Professionals of New Jersey. She serves as a Matrimonial Early Settlement panelist in Middlesex County and as an Intensive Settlement Panelist in Monmouth County.
n
nAn Associate Managing Editor of the New Jersey Family Lawyer, Ms. Connors has authored and co-authored numerous articles which have appeared in the New Jersey Family Lawyer and has been published in Divorce Magazine’s Frequently Asked Questions feature. She was the 2013 recipient of the Martin S. Goldin Family Law Award from the Middlesex County Bar Association and frequently lectures on family law topics.
n
nMs. Connors received her B.A., with distinction, from Cornell University and her J.D., magna cum laude, from Seton Hall University School of Law, where she was a senior member of the Seton Hall Law Review and received the Raymond del Tufo, Jr. Award. She served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Barry T. Albin, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
n(8/23)

Thomas DeCataldo, Jr., Esq.

Manzi Epstein Lomurro & DeCataldo, LLC, West Orange

Jhanice V. Domingo, Esq.

Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, P.C., Hackensack

Robert A. Epstein, Esq.

Manzi Epstein Lomurro & Decataldo, West Orange

Jeffrey Fiorello, Esq.

Cohn Lifland Pearlman Herrmann & Knopf LLP, Saddle Brook

Christine Fitzgerald, Esq.

Seiden Family Law, Cranford

Derek M. Freed, Esq.

Ulrichsen Rosen & Freed LLC, Pennington

is the Managing Partner of Ulrichsen Rosen & Freed LLC in Pennington, New Jersey. He concentrates his practice in matrimonial and family law.
n
nAdmitted to practice in New Jersey, Mr. Freed is Past Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association Family Law Section and was a co-author of the Association’s amicus curiae brief to the New Jersey Supreme Court on the matters of Gnall v. Gnall and Bisbing v Bisbing. He is a Matrimonial Early Settlement Panelist in Mercer and Somerset Counties.
n
nThe recipient of the New Jersey State Bar Association Distinguished Legislative Service Award in 2023, Mr. Freed serves as an Associate Managing Editor of the New Jersey Family Lawyer and his articles have appeared in the magazine. He has lectured on family law matters for ICLE, the New Jersey State and Mercer County Bar Associations, and the New Jersey Association for Justice.
n
nMr. Freed received his B.A. from the College of William and Mary and his J.D., with honors, from Rutgers School of Law-Camden.

Monica C. Gural, Esq.

Chief Counsel
Legal Services of New Jersey, Edison

Kaitlyn A. Lapi, Esq.

Hagan, Klein & Weisberg, LLC, Cedar Knolls

Jeralyn L. Lawrence, Esq.

Lawrence Law, LLC, Watchung

Certified as a Matrimonial Law Attorney by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, is the Managing Member and founder of Lawrence Law in Watchung, New Jersey. She practices in all areas of matrimonial and family law including divorce litigation, mediation and arbitration, custody and parenting time issues, alimony and child support, separation and property settlement agreements, adoption and guardianship advice, domestic partnership matters under the Domestic Partnership Act, domestic violence and sexual abuse, and palimony. She is also a trained collaborative lawyer and divorce mediator, and has argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court on behalf of the New Jersey State Bar Association and the New Jersey chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
n
nA Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), Ms. Lawrence is President of the Academy’s New Jersey Chapter and has been certified by the AAML as a Family Law Arbitrator. She is also a volunteer attorney with the New Jersey State Bar Military Legal Assistance Program, which provides pro bono legal assistance to New Jersey residents who have served overseas or in active duty of the armed forces after September 11, 2001. Past President of the New Jersey State Bar Association, she is Past Chair of the NJSBA Family Law Section, has served as a Trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation and is Past President of the Somerset County Bar Association. Ms. Lawrence has served on the District XIII Attorney Ethics Committee and has been a member of the New Jersey Association for Justice, the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association, the New Jersey Collaborative Law Group, the New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators (NJAPM) and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals. A Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, she was appointed to the Somerset County Domestic Violence Working Group as a Representative of the Somerset County Family Law Section and has also been a member of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts and the American Bar Association. She serves on the Matrimonial Certification Committee that oversees the statewide matrimonial attorney certification process and has been an attorney volunteer at Safe+Sound Somerset.
n
nMs. Lawrence is a frequent lecturer at divorce and family law programs and has been a senior editor of the New Jersey Family Lawyer. She is a graduate of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) and a member and Barrister of the Central New Jersey American Inns of Court. Ms. Lawrence is a recipient of the Young Lawyers Division Professional Achievement Award, the Carol Murphy Award bestowed by the Women’s Political Caucus of New Jersey, and is a 3-time recipient of the Annual Legislative Recognition Award from the New Jersey State Bar Association. She is also the recipient of the 2008 Outstanding Woman in Somerset County from the Somerset County Commission on the Status of Women, the 2009 Kean University Distinguished Alumna award and the Saul Tischler Award from the NJSBA Family Law Section in 2023.
n
nMs. Lawrence received her B.A. from Kean University and her J.D., summa cum laude, from Seton Hall University School of Law. While in law school, she was awarded the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers’ Award in addition to serving as the Student Director of the Family Law Clinic.

Stephanie Lomurro, Esq.

Manzi Epstein Lomurro & DeCataldo, LLC, West Orange

is Managing Partner of Manzi Epstein Lomurro & DeCataldo, LLC in Montclair, New Jersey, where she concentrates her practice in family law and is also a R. 1:40 Mediator.
n
nAdmitted to practice in New Jersey and New York, Ms. Lomurro is a member of the New Jersey State, Essex County, Hudson County and Union County Bar Associations, and has been a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Family Law Executive Committee, where she is a former Co-Chair of the Young Lawyers Subcommittee. She has been a Trustee of the Hudson County Bar Association and an Early Settlement Panelist in Hudson and Union Counties. A member of the District IV (Hudson County) Ethics Committee, she is a Trustee of CASA of New Jersey and an Associate Editor of The New Jersey Family Lawyer (published by the New Jersey State Bar Association).
n
nCo-author of Litigation Technology for the Modern Practitioner, Ms. Lomurro has lectured for ICLE, the Justice Virginia Long Family Law American Inn of Court and the New Jersey Association for Justice. She has also completed the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) Family Law Trial Advocacy Program and was a member of the inaugural class of the New Jersey State Bar Association Leadership Academy.
n
nMs. Lomurro received her B.A. from Drew University and her J.D. from New York Law School. She was a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Sallyanne Floria, Assignment Judge, Superior Court of New Jersey, Essex County (now retired).
n(8/23)

Frank A. Louis, Esq.

Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis LLP, Red Bank

is a Partner in Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis LLP in Toms River, New Jersey. A substantial portion of his practice involves the mediation of complex matrimonial matters, and he generally represents individuals in Ocean and Monmouth Counties who are involved in complicated equitable distribution cases with a view towards negotiating resolutions.
n
nMr. Louis served as Chair of the Family Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association and as President of the Ocean County Bar Association, where he also chaired the local Family Law Committee for several years. A Diplomate Member of the American College of Family Trial Lawyers, he also serves as an Emeritus member of the Executive Committee of the NJSBA Family Law Section and a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML). Mr. Louis was selected by Governor Florio as the NJSBA’s representative to the New Jersey Commission to Study the Law of Divorce. He was a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Family Part Practice Committee from its inception through 2011 and has served on a number of Supreme Court Committees, including the Special Committee on Matrimonial Litigation and the Economic Consequences of Dissolution Committee.
n
nThe 2006 recipient of the Alfred C. Clapp Award bestowed by ICLE for Excellence in Continuing Legal Education, Mr. Louis has also received the Tischler Award from the Family Law Section of the NJSBA and the Young Lawyer Award from the Ocean County Bar Association. He has lectured extensively for attorney and CPA groups, and has authored more than 50 articles, a number of which have been cited by courts in New Jersey in reported and unreported opinions. He organized and moderated ICLE’s Family Law Symposium from 1996-2013 and is the author of New Jersey Family Law Volume II: Divorce, Alimony & Property Division (2020).
n
nMr. Louis received his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and his law degree from Rutgers Law School-Newark.

Timothy F. McGoughran, Esq.

Law Office of Timothy F. McGoughran LLC, Ocean

is the founding Partner of the Law Office of Timothy F. McGoughran, LLC in Ocean, New Jersey. He concentrates his practice exclusively in family law and handles matters related to divorce, custody, alimony, domestic violence, adoption, prenuptial agreements, parenting rights, same-sex marriage and other issues. He has also served as a Municipal Court Judge in Ocean Township and is a former Municipal Prosecutor for the Township.
n
nMr. McGoughran is admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the United States Supreme Court. A member of the New Jersey State, Pennsylvania, Ocean County and Monmouth Bar Associations, he is President of the New Jersey State Bar Association, Past Chair of the NJSBA Family Law Section Executive Committee, serves on the Executive Committee of the Association’s Military and Veterans Affairs Section and is a member of the Legal Education Committee. Mr. McGoughran is also Past President of the Monmouth Bar Association and Past Co-Chair of the Monmouth Bar Association’s Family Law Committee. He has been a Trustee for Monmouth County on the NJSBA’s Board of Trustees and has co-chaired the Legislation and Meeting Arrangements and Program Committees.
n
nIn 2010 and 2013 Mr. McGoughran was the recipient of the Distinguished Legislative Service Award bestowed by the New Jersey State Bar Association, and the Monmouth Bar Association Family Law Committee presented him with the Family Lawyer of the Year Award in 2012. He is a regular lecturer on law and ethics topics.
n
nMr. McGoughran received his B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and his J.D. from Seton Hall Law School. He was a law clerk to the Honorable Robert W. O’Hagan, JSC.

Cassie Murphy, Esq.

Paone Zaleski & Murphy, Red Bank

Megan S. Murray, Esq.

The Family Law Offices of Megan S. Murray, Holmdel

Matheu D. Nunn, Esq.

Einhorn, Barbarito, Frost, Botwinick, Nunn & Musmanno, P.C., Denville

John P. Paone, Jr., Esq.

Paone Zaleski & Murphy, Red Bank

is a Diplomate of the American College of Family Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) with 40 years of experience in the practice of family law. He is the Senior Partner of Paone, Zaleski & Murphy with offices in Woodbridge and Red Bank, where he limits his practice to high asset, high net worth and complex divorce, family law and custody matters. He is an AAML approved arbitrator.
n
nMr. Paone is a past Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) Family Law Section, a past President of the AAML New Jersey Chapter, and a past President of the Middlesex County Bar Association. He has been appointed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey to several committees relating to the practice of divorce and family law. He has served as Chair of the Supreme Court Board on Attorney Certification and as a member of the Board on Continuing Legal Education. The NJSBA appointed Mr. Paone Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Continuing Legal Education. He is a past member of the NJSBA Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee which evaluates every candidate for judicial appointment or reappointment to the Supreme Court, the Superior Court, and as county prosecutor. He served as 2018-2019 Co-Chair of the Monmouth Bar Association Family Law Committee and serves as a member of that Committee.
n
nThe 1996 recipient of the NJSBA Distinguished Legislative Service Award and the 2010 recipient of the ICLE Distinguished Service Award, Mr. Paone was in the first class of attorneys to be Certified by the Supreme Court as a “Matrimonial Law Attorney.” An Editor Emeritus of the New Jersey Family Lawyer, he is a frequent writer and lecturer on family law issues and has made television appearances on Court TV and other programs. In 2002 the NJSBA Family Law Section awarded Mr. Paone its Tischler Award for his contributions to family law practice and the legal profession. Since 2017, he has served as a Master of the Aldona E. Appleton Family Law American Inn of Court.
n
nMr. Paone received his B.A., with honors, from Rutgers College and his J.D., magna cum laude, from the American University Washington College of Law, where he was Articles Editor of the Law Review.

Jey Rajaraman

Director of Litigation, Children in the Law, American Bar Association

Brian M. Schwartz, Esq.

Szaferman Lakind Blumstein & Blader, P.C., Summit

is a Partner in Szaferman, Lakind, Blumstein & Blader, P.C. in Summit, New Jersey, and has been involved in the practice of family law for more than 20 years. He assists his clients through the difficulties of divorce, custody, alimony and equitable distribution.
n
nMr. Schwartz is Past Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Family Law Section and has been a member of the Section’s Executive Committee since 2002. A former Executive Editor of the New Jersey Family Lawyer, he has lectured for ICLE’s Skills and Methods course in family law multiple times, moderated the 2014 Family Law Symposium, lectured at the Symposium several times, and was the Co-Moderator for the ATLA/NJAJ Boardwalk Seminar in 2010-2012. He has been a faculty member at the AICPA Expert Witness Skills Workshop several times; has lectured for ICLE, NJAJ/ATLA, the New Jersey State Bar Association, the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants and local bar associations; and has authored numerous articles on family law which have appeared in the New Jersey Family Lawyer, Sidebar and publications of ICLE and NJAJ/ATLA. A former Barrister and group leader for the Barry I. Croland American Inn of Court, he was the 2017 recipient of the Saul Tischler Award from the New Jersey State Bar Association for Lifetime Achievement in the advancement of Family Law as well as several other honors.
n
nMr. Schwartz received his B.A. from George Washington University and his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Sheryl J. Seiden, Esq.

Seiden Family Law, LLC, Cranford

is the founding Partner of Seiden Family Law, LLC in Cranford, New Jersey. She is a seasoned matrimonial lawyer, having practiced family law exclusively since January 2000. Prior to forming Seiden Family Law, Ms. Seiden was a Partner at a boutique law firm in Summit, where she practiced family law for thirteen years.
n
nAdmitted to practice in New Jersey and New York, Ms. Seiden is Past Chair of the Family Law Section Executive Committee (“FLEC”) of the New Jersey State Bar Association and a Trustee of the Association. She is a past Co-Chair of the Young Lawyer Family Law Subcommittee for FLEC, and has been a member of FLEC since 2008. An officer and Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers– New Jersey Chapter (“AAML-NJ”), Ms. Seiden has served on the Board of Managers for several years and is slated to be sworn in as the President of AAML-NJ in June 2024. She is also a member of the Union and Essex County Bar Associations. In November 2014 Ms. Seiden argued as amicus curiae for AAML in Gnall v Gnall before the Supreme Court of New Jersey. She has been an Early Settlement Panelist for the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Family Part, Union County, and has been asked to serve as a blue-ribbon panelist on several occasions by the Early Settlement Panel for the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Family Part, Essex County.
n
nMs. Seiden has moderated and spoken on many panels for the Family Law Symposium on topics involving creative support awards, child support, emancipation and special needs trusts, alimony issues, legislative issues affecting family law, and reexamining relocation laws. She has also been a speaker at the Friday night program for the Family Law Symposium on several occasions. Ms. Seiden is co-author of Marriage, Divorce and Dissolution (Gann Publishing, 2019, now in its 3rd Edition). She often lectures and educates junior lawyers and paralegals on how to prepare Case Information Statements, and has also lectured on the relocation laws in New Jersey as well as parental alienation.
n
nMs. Seiden received her B.A., cum laude, from American University and is a magna cum laude graduate of New York Law School, where she served as the Managing Editor of the New York Law School Law Review.

Jenna Shapiro, Esq.

Szaferman, Lakind, Blumstein & Blader, P.C., Lawrenceville

Michelle A. Wortmann, Esq.

Sarno Da Costa D'Aniello Maceri LLC, Roseland