Brad Micklin | Nutley Divorce & Family Lawyer

Brad is the lead attorney and managing member at The Micklin Law Group. For more than 20 years, he has helped clients through some of the toughest, most emotional experiences in their lives, including in high conflict divorces, child custody battles and probate litigation. He has extensive experience in the courtroom and has gained additional expertise and knowledge through advanced family law courses and training in handwriting analysis, body language and advanced micro expression. When representing clients involved in difficult family legal matters, Brad makes sure he takes as much time as each client needs to discuss concerns, hopes and fears. From there, he tailors his services to match overarching goals and budgets. He also offers his time, articles and other resources to continually teach his clients about the law, even after representation is over. He even holds client dinners and other events. Based on his work as a litigator, Brad has earned numerous successful results, including successfully arguing the lead case in New Jersey divorce law defining the laws concerning limited duration alimony and its modification. In addition to hislitigation and negotiation experience, Brad also has extensive training and experience in the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes. After serving as a mediator for the Attorney General’s Office in Delaware, he received certification as a mediator through the Superior Court of New Jersey. He later received an invitation to serve as a commercial arbitrator from the Assignment Judge, Union County, New Jersey. Brad M. Micklin’s approach and experience has led him to be an award winning attorney having received numerous awards and accolades. Brad has received numerous awards from Avvo for his excellent professional conduct and experience: 10.0 Superb Top Attorney, 2016 Excellent Rated Attorney, 2012 – 2015 9.7 Superb Top Attorney in Divorce, 2015 Client Choice (Divorce, Estate Planning, and Family), 2015 Superb Top Attorney (Divorce, Estate Planning, and Family), 2015 Top Contributor (Divorce, Estate Planning, and Family), 2015 Brad recently received an award from the American Institute of Family Lawyers as one of the 2015 Top Ten Best Lawyers in the area of client satisfaction. The organization mission is to recognize excellence, allowing clients to make wise decisions. Brad and his team pride themselves on delivering exceptional service and are honored to receive this award. Brad is also a November 2014 recipient of the prestigious National Advocates Top 100 Lawyers award for his advocacy on behalf of family law clients in New Jersey. The award was granted based on Brad’s superior qualifications of leadership, reputation, influence and performance in family law. Brad was recently published as a “Top Lawyer in New Jersey” in 2014 in the Legal Network for having the highest ethical standards and professional excellence. The American Academy of Trial Attorneys recognized Brad Micklin as one of 100 premier trial Attorneys in New Jersey with the Premier 100 Designation. Less than 1% of the 1.2 million attorneys currently practicing in the U.S. will be selected to receive this prestigious designation. Brad was named one of New Jersey’s Network of Distinguished Attorneys from the National Association of Distinguished Counsel.

Lawyer.com Member Questionnaire

Please describe a case(s) in the last year or two where you made a big difference.
I successfully obtained final restraining orders for clients who suffered long-standing physical abuse and permission for one of them to relocate to another state with her children. Both obtaining a restraining order and receiving permission for relocation gave my client true freedom from the fear of future acts of domestic violence.

How did you build a successful practice?
Personal attention. My staff and I pride ourselves on taking a true interest in our client's cases and lives.

What should clients look for in a lawyer?
Honesty and transparency. You want a lawyer who will tell you what to expect and whether that attorney can really make a difference before any money is exchanged.

How important is local knowledge to the success of your cases?
Local knowledge helps, to a limited extent, because it gives a greater familiarity with the people involved but, otherwise, does not make much a difference.

What information can you provide in a free phone consultation?
Everything they need to know about their case, our law firm and the services we provide. We do not limited our consultation time if the potential client needs to handle it by telephone.

What information do you need in a free phone consultation?
We send all potential clients a detailed survey before their call to gather information regarding their issues and what they seek to accomplish. Additionally, I will request any agreements or prior court orders to be sent to me before the meeting so I am fully familiar with the case history and issues.

What differentiates you from other lawyers in your community?
We concentrate in divorce, family law and estate planning and litigation. This gives us, not just the unique ability to spot and anticipate issues but a better understanding of what the client and his/her family may be experiencing on a personal level. This understanding allows us to better guide our clients through the process and to determine if there are other services the client needs, whether from us or our network of sources.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Helping people out of what is quite often a horrible situation for them and their children and allowing them to move on and grow beyond the current dilemmas.

What are your other interests in addition to law?
I study Krav Maga, which is a form of hand-to-hand combat utilized by the Isreali army, I play the guitar and I study body language and hand-writing analysis.

Position	Organization	Location	Duration
Associate Attorney	David Kessler and Associates, LLC	New Jersey	January 1998 – April 2001
Lead Attorney	The Micklin Law Group	Nutley, NJ	April 2001 – Present
Judicial Law Clerk	Superior Court of New Jersey	New Jersey	1996 – 1997

School	Degree	Major	Graduation
Widener University School of Law	JD	Law School	1996
Temple University	B.A.	Communication	1992

State / Court	Date
Federal District Court, 3rd District	1997
New Jersey	1997
Pennsylvania	1997

• -Honorary Chairman of the Business Council for State of New Jersey
  
  -Association of Trial Lawyers of America
  
  -American Bar Association
  
  -Bankruptcy Inn of Court, 2000-2002
  
  -Trial Inn of Court, 2000-2001
  
  -New Jersey State Bar Association
  
  -Pennsylvania State Bar Association

• -Top Lawyer, Honorable Member | Trademark Who's Who
  
  -2015 Client Satisfaction Award | American Institute of Family Law Attorneys
  
  -Premier 100 Designation | American Academny of Trial Attorneys
  
  -Lead Counsel Rated | Lead Counsel
  
  -Top Lawyer in New Jersey | The Legal Network
  
  -Top 100 Lawyers | The National Advocates
  
  -New Jersey's Network of Distinguished Attorneys | National Association of Distinguished Counsel

• Type of Client: Alimony Modification -Client’s Issue: The client was concerned that his ex-wife was planning to seek an extension of her limited duration alimony to a permanent alimony award based upon a bogus medical condition. -Attorney Micklin’s Approach: We filed to increase the amount of child support the client was paying so that we could return to court immediately for a positive reason since we were seeking to increase the child support the client was paying and eliminate the ex-wife’s ability to foster a false medical claim. -Result: The ex-wife was required to raise the fact that she intended to seek an increase in alimony but was forced to concede that she had no medical information to support the claim. Type of Client: Custody Dispute -Client’s Issue: The client was a dentist in the Air Force. He received a surprised notice that his ex-wife was seeking to eliminate his custody and visitation rights. -Attorney Micklin’s Approach: We filed a cross motion to deny the application and increase custody and parenting time. Our position was that the mother’s application suggested that she was trying to alienate the father from the child. -Result: Our application was granted. The client received joint legal custody and extended parenting time. Type of Client: Emergency Relocation -Client’s Issue: The client came in and advised that the mother of his child was moving to Florida the very next day. The mother never advised the client or sought his permission. It is unlawful to remove a child from New Jersey without the other parent’s permission or a court order. -Attorney Micklin’s Approach: Within two hours of the client meeting, we drafted and filed an emergency order to show cause to prohibit the relocation. -Result: The judge entered an order the same day that we met with the client and prohibited the mother from moving to Florida with their child. Type of Client: Alimony Modification -Client’s Issue: The client was laid off from his job and took a new position in another country at a dramatically lower income. He could not afford his alimony and child support payments at the current levels and went into substantial arrears. As a result of his arrears, his passport was suspended and he could not travel to the United States. -The Micklin Law Group Approach: We filed for a plenary hearing on the issue of Plaintiff’s changed financial circumstances and to modify his support obligations accordingly. We also filed to reinstate his passport. -Result: The court granted Plaintiff’s application for a plenary hearing on the issue of his reduced income and whether a reduction in his support obligations was appropriate. The court granted his application to reinstate his passport so he could travel to the United States to participate in the litigation. Type of Client: Support, college contribution and other modification of the client’s obligations pursuant to a divorce agreement -Client’s Issue: The client experienced a significant decrease in earnings and could not meet his support and other obligations set forth in his divorce agreement. There were also several ancillary issues including a Newburgh College issue, emancipation of one of the children who was attending a 5th year of college, and a poorly-drafted equitable distribution provision (by another law firm who represented the client at the time of the divorce several years prior). The provision allowed the client’s ex-spouse annual access to a real property owned by the client which once was a vacation house, but later became the client’s primary residence, for an indefinite period of years. -The Micklin Law Group Approach: We filed for a plenary hearing on all of the issues namely, but not limited to, Plaintiff’s changed financial circumstances and to modify his support and other obligations accordingly. -Result: We succeeded in getting the court to order a plenary hearing on all issues, and the adversary’s request for the court to order the client to advance certain outstanding support and other payments was denied pending the plenary hearing. During the pendency of the litigation, we were able to negotiate a favorable settlement on roughly 80% of the issues with the other party, the substance of which significantly reduced the client’s current obligations and made them “manageable.” We were then able to limit the issues for the plenary hearing to about 20% of what was originally raised in both parties’ pleadings, thereby significantly simplifying the trial and costs associated with preparation for the trial. Type of Client: Child and spousal support modification of the client’s obligations pursuant to a divorce agreement. -Client’s Issue: The client experienced a significant decrease in earnings and could not meet his support and other obligations set forth in his divorce agreement. As a result, we filed for a plenary hearing on the issue of support modification, which we were successful in obtaining, the trial court judge having found that our client demonstrated a “prima facie” case of changed circumstances entitling him to a hearing. However, the trial court judge conditioned the plenary hearing going forward on the client making certain payments to the other party, including but not limited to a lump sum payment towards support arrears and counsel and expert fees for the other party. -The Micklin Law Group Approach: We filed an interlocutory, i.e. emergent, appeal of the trial court judge’s decision to condition the plenary hearing on the client’s payment of arrears, counsel and expert fees. -Result: The appellate division granted our interlocutory appeal and reversed and remanded the case back to the trial court judge. The appellate division held, essentially, that it was wrong to require our client to “pay to play” after having found that he demonstrated a prima facie case of changed circumstances.

• -Learn the Financial Impact of a Divorce
  
  -The New Jersey Family Law Handbook
  
  -Unique Elements to Military Divorces
  
  -How To Handle High Conflict Custody Cases

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