Chaim Steinberger

Having gone to law school later in life, Chaim used his real-world experience to gain a deeper understanding in how the law works. After graduating in the top 2% of his law school class, Chaim went to work at some of the most prestigious law firms in the country. He also had the honor of clerking for the Hon. United States District Court Judge Edward R. Korman, in the Eastern District of New York. During this period of time he went through his own divorce and said to himself, "There has got to be a better way." He then dedicated his life to practicing that better way, using Game Theory and advanced negotiation skills to achieve for his clients "Divorce Without Destruction" -- winning by being more strategic.

Chaim continues to study advanced litigation, negotiation, and mediation so as to employ the latest and best techniques in each of these and other disciplines to benefit his clients. He serves as an arbitrator, judging disputes in Small Claims Court and other venues. There, and through his service as a law clerk and mediator, he sits in the “middle” of others’ disputes and gets to “feel” what arguments are persuasive and compelling and which fall flat, making him a better advocate, litigator, and negotiator.

As detailed in his article, Mediation Techniques Every Litigator Can Use, Mr. Steinberger also uses his mediator’s techniques when he’s advocating for his clients, sensing where an opening for resolution might lie, and then finding ways to achieve consensus to his client’s advantage.

Game Theory teaches that when two adversaries work together, they often both come out ahead of where they could each be if they remain at odds with one another. Thus, Mr. Steinberger knows, if he is able to begin to reestablish a relationship and, perhaps, some budding trust, between the parties they can reach resolutions of mutual benefit rather than pursue “scorched earth,” “zero-sum” strategies where the only question is “who loses more?”

Because of his own experience, Mr. Steinberger knows the pain of divorce and feels like each case is his own. He “lives and dies” with every case and several have said that he’s “changed [their] li[v]e[s].” He spends a lot of time with his clients learning about their issues, explaining the law and how the system works so as to empower them and developing a cohesive strategy to achieve the client’s objectives.

“Committed to excellence,” Mr. Steinberger treats everyone with dignity, courtesy, and integrity. He has proven that though behaving with integrity in litigation and negotiation may require more time, the clients ultimately benefit from it. Though a pitbull litigator, he treats even his adversaries with fairness, courtesy, and dignity usually to the benefit of all.

To stay on top of his field, Mr. Steinberger continues to study the myriad areas required to be a top-notch lawyer. He continues to accumulate and assemble the best legal books and attend seminars and conferences on matrimonial and family law and is an active participant in the matrimonial listservs of the matrimonial lawyers . He also lectures and publishes on issues of matrimonial & family law and related issues. Chaim believes that it’s important for each of us to give back and to work together to make the world a better place. To that end, he volunteers at several organizations, (see Public Service), and publicly lectures on issues of law, love and dispute resolution (see Lectures & Presentations).