Wendy Samuelson | Garden City Divorce & Family Lawyer

What do my clients say about me? "Determined". "Strategic". "Tough but reasonable negotiator". "Warm". "Keeps me calm". I am grateful for the appreciation of my clients who have kindly given me their testimonials.

My goal as a matrimonial attorney is to make things better for the family, not worse. I often recommend to a client who is going through a divorce to go to "divorce counseling," so that the couple can work on treating each other with respect and making sure their children are not caught in the middle of their negative feelings. I am a resource to my clients, too, and help them not just get a divorce, but also make sure that their emotional and financial affairs are looked after too, by providing them with quality referrals to psychologists, accountants, trust and estate attorneys and financial advisors.

I am most proud of the Coping blog I developed on our website, which provides useful tips from authors, psychiatrists, and other professionals on how to best cope during and after divorce. This is something I do out of concern for my clients and is a very different type of writing than my professional writing for the matrimonial bar, my column "Recent Legislation, Cases and Trends in Matrimonial Law" in The Family Law Review, published by the New York State Bar Association.

I practice Na’am yoga, a meditative practice that focuses on breathing exercises to maintain inner balance, sharpness, and compassion. I often teach my clients, who are sometimes stressed and anxious, to learn easy breathing exercises, which helps calm them and allows them to focus on what’s really important.

At the initial consultation, I discuss with you the strategic planning, including investigating and preserving hidden income and assets. I explain the legal process and what outcome you can reasonably expect if the matter is decided by the court. We discuss the pros and cons of going to trial, and whether settling the matter is in your best interest. While this may sound simple, there are many attorneys out there who fail to properly educate their client on reasonable solutions, and as a result, waste the client’s time and money.

For example, one client had an extensive and valuable wine collection in her basement that her husband kept locked and she did not have the key. I explained to her that once the divorce action commenced, he would most likely remove the collection out of the house. In order to preserve the evidence, I set her up with a private investigator who took photos and videos of the entire collection. Sure enough, once the action commenced, the husband had a truck pull up to the house, and removed 90% of the collection. The case quickly settled after the husband lied under oath about the collection, and I showed him the evidence I had.

I have learned matrimonial law at a very young age from the very best– my father, Elliot Samuelson, one of the most respected matrimonial attorneys in New York. After graduating from Cornell Law School, I immediately joined his practice. I am proud to be his partner and to continue in his path of providing clients with the attention they deserve and being a determined advocate for them and their children.

My clients are CEOs of publicly traded corporations, hedge fund managers, real estate developers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, and other wealthy individuals. Each client is distinctive, but they all have the same goals– they want their divorce handled in a respectful and amicable manner and be resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible.