Kari H. Lichtenstein

This attorney is very special. Intellectual honesty and “doing what’s right” are hallmarks of her approach; so, don’t bother to consult with her if you are mean, irrational, or a lunatic. My tale of woe stems from impedances to my visitation rights with my young and very impressionable kids.... I had been in the hands of a well-known attorney previously, and despite excellent handling of the economics of my case, the aspects pertaining to my access rights were neglected – actually botched. Consequently, I sought out an attorney who would be willing to take on a very challenging situation involving some rarely-seen principles (e.g., parental alienating behavior). It was a long journey – numerous ups and downs – and Attorney Lichtenstein never wavered in her dedication to my cause. My degree of satisfaction with Ms. Lichtenstein is very high. If you have a case involving access rights, and you are on the right side of doing what is fair and reasonable, then Attorney Lichtenstein is an IDEAL counsel for you. She emotionally “bought in” to my case to the point where I would consider her to be a real friend. I offer my unqualified endorsement.

I am a 43 year old male, divorced twice, remarried (third marriage) with one child from each of the first two marriages. I am an attorney at a large firm where I am a partner practicing corporate law at a relatively sophisticated level. In my first divorce, I think the most contentious, I engage...d a firm perennially ranked in the top ten New York City divorce firms. Very well known, very experienced, very service-oriented and very expensive. I probably would have used them for my second divorce, but they had dissolved and I was referred to another attorney who was nearly as expensive but not nearly as good. Suffice to say when it comes to assessing the quality of legal services in the area of family law I know what I am talking about, from being a lawyer and from having personal experience with a variety of attorneys facing a variety of family law issues. I engaged Kari after my second divorce in a custody matter relating to my first son. That matter and a variety of other matters, including adjustments to support, visitation issues, negotiation of amendments of various provisions of the stipulations from both divorces, matters before Family Court, matters before the Supreme Court, etc., have resulted in my working closely with Kari for now nearly four years. Kari is hands-down the best marital/family-law attorney I have ever worked with or observed. She is knowledgable, talented, articulate, effective, intelligent, principled and passionate about her work. She gives practical, user-friendly advice that achieves an optimal result in the most efficient manner. While Kari is not a reflexively contentious/hostile advocate (a style of advocacy I would steer clear of as the most expensive, least effective approach), she can and will take off the gloves when she needs to, and when she does I am glad she's in my corner and not coming at me from the other side of the ring. Perhaps where Kari shines most is in creative problem solving. She doesn't just read from a playbook. I have disagreed with Kari on points from time to time, and even if she ultimately convinces me to take her approach, she listens to my ideas and incorporates them where it makes sense. I stumbled on these reviews by accident, and given that I have worked so much with Kari I thought it was important to weigh in. I pondered a bit what really distinguished Kari from the other matrimonial attorneys I had worked with or otherwise had occasion to observe and think it boils down to the following: I promise anyone who is going through a divorce that they will not be happy with the resolution of every issue, and in some cases very unhappy. I could go on and on about the great results I have achieved with Kari's help, but the real difference for me (working with Kari) is that when an issue doesn't go my way, I find it infinitely easier to live with because I know my position has been advocated as best it could and I could not have achieved anything better, no way, no how. She's the best.

I feel very fortunate to have been referred to Kari. During perhaps the most stressful period of my life, Kari skillfully guided me through a very complicated and emotional divorce. She was focused, responsive and very persuasive. She was always professional, her advice was sound and we achieved ...our goals. Thank you again Kari!