2025 NJ Divorce, Alimony & Property Division

Sheryl J. Seiden is the founding partner of Seiden Family Law, LLC in Cranford, New Jersey. She has been duly licensed to practice law in the State of New Jersey since December 1996 and in the State of New York since June 1997.

Sheryl Seiden is a seasoned matrimonial lawyer, having practiced family law exclusively since January 2000. Sheryl has been recognized as a "Best Lawyer in America" since 2015, and has been selected by her peers as a Super Lawyer (and previously, a Rising Star) for the last several years since 2015, and she was previously a "Rising Star". In 2018 and 2019, she was recognized by Super Lawyers as one of the top 50 female layers in New Jersey and top 100 lawyers in New Jersey.

Sheryl is the Chair of the Family Law Section ("FLEC") of the New Jersey State Bar Association. As an Officer of FLEC, Sheryl dedicates her time to ensure that the needs and concerns of the Family Law Section are addressed. She has served as a member of FLEC since 2008. She is a past Co-Chair of the Young Lawyer Family Law Subcommittee for FLEC.

She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers ("AAML") New Jersey Chapter ("AAML").

In November 2014, Sheryl argued for AAML Amicus Curiae for AAML in Gnall v Gnall before the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Sheryl has moderated and spoken on panels for the Family Law Symposium on the effect of the new tax law on family law matters in January 2019, on Child Support, Emancipation and Special Needs Trusts in January 2018, on alimony issues in January 2017, on legislative issues affecting family law in January 2016, and on the topic of reexamining our relocation laws in January 2015. She also was a speaker at the Friday Night program for the Family Law Symposium in January 2013 on the topic of Case Information Statements.

Sheryl has lectured several times on the Relocation Laws in the State of New Jersey and on Bisbing v Bisbing, the case setting the new standard on relocation. She has experience with addressing parental alienation, she has written an article and lectured on this topic.

Sheryl also wrote and presented a seminar series entitled "How to Take A Case Through The Court System," which she presented to Young Lawyers to educate them about family law practices and procedures, and which continues to be presented throughout the State of Jersey. She has lectured for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education and the Union County Bar Association on "How to Effectively Prepare a Case Information Statement" and the Middlesex County Bar Association on "Parental Alienation and Relocation Issues."

Sheryl frequently lectures at the New Jersey State Bar Annual Conference. In May 2017, 2018 and 2019, she was part of the Bench Bar Panel. In years past, she spoke on the following topics: "Landmines in Negotiating and Drafting Property Settlement Agreements," custody/parenting time issues, why equitable distribution should be equitable and not necessarily equal and how and when to use experts at trial.

She organized and moderated the "Hot Tips Seminar" in 2017 on Demystifying the Trial for preparing and proceeding to trial. She also was a speaker at the "Hot Tips Seminar" in November 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018.

In March 2015, she was asked to opine on legal issues on Jenny McCarthy's radio show.

Sheryl is also a member of the Union County and Essex County Bar Associations. She has volunteered for Partners for Women and Justice and has lectured for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education on family law issues. Sheryl was a participant in the ABA Family Law Trial Advocacy Program in May 2008, which enhanced her litigation skills.

She is 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 panelists on several occasions by the Early Settlement Panel for the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Family Part, Essex County.

Prior to forming Seiden Family Law, Sheryl was a partner at Ceconi & Cheifetz, where she practiced family law for thirteen years. She also practiced matrimonial law for several years at Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, working closely with Eleanor B. Alter, Esq. and Helene Brezinsky, Esq. in complex matrimonial cases in both New York and New Jersey. She also acquired significant litigation experience at both Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker and Thacher Proffitt & Wood.

Sheryl graduated magna cum laude from New York Law School in 1996, where she served as the managing editor of the New York Law School Law Review. She received her B.A. in Justice from American University in Washington, D.C. in 1993, where she graduated cum laude.

Frank A. Louis is the founding partner of LOUIS & RUSSELL, a matrimonial boutique firm in Toms River, New Jersey where he has practiced Family Law since 1974. He is a cum laude graduate of Brooklyn College and a graduate of Rutgers Law School (1973). He specializes in economically complex divorce cases, either as counsel or a Mediator.

Mr. Louis served as the Chair of the Family Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association and President of the Ocean County Bar Association, where he chaired the local Family Law Committee for several years. Governor Florio selected him to be the New Jersey State Bar Associations representative to the New Jersey Commission to Study the Law of Divorce. The Commission recommended several new statutes, including Limited Duration Alimony, which was based on an article written by Mr. Louis.

In 1980, Mr. Louis received the Young Lawyer Award from the Ocean County Bar Association. In 1980, he also received the Tischler Award from the New Jersey State Bar Association for contributions to the advancement of Family Law. In 2006, he was selected as a Clapp Laureate by ICLE for his contributions to Legal Education. Mr. Louis has been selected to be a member of Best Lawyers of America and has been recognized as a Super Lawyers by the New Jersey Monthly and New York Magazine. Super Lawyers are limited to 5% of the lawyers in New Jersey. In 2006, Mr. Louis received the highest vote total of all lawyers in the State and was number one in the Top Ten. Super Lawyers in 2007 and 2010 selected him to be one of the Top Ten Lawyers. In 2010, he received the third highest vote total in New Jersey and was number three in the Top Ten. In every year of the Super Lawyers poll since it was initiated, he has either been one of the Top Ten Lawyers in New Jersey or selected to be in the Top One Hundred Lawyers in New Jersey.

Mr. Louis is also a member of the American College of Family Trial Lawyers, which is an organization limited to 100 Family Lawyers in the United States. Only five lawyers in New Jersey are members of the College.

Mr. Louis has been appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court to eight Supreme Court Committees. From 1982  2012, Mr. Louis was appointed and reappointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court to be a member of the Supreme Court Family Part Practice Committee. He has also been appointed by the Chief Justice to serve on the following: Special Committee on Matrimonial Litigation; Family Automated Case System; Economic Consequences of Dissolution Committee; Complementary Dispute Resolution Task Force; the Appointment of Fiduciary and Counsel Committee; Task Force on the Status of Women; and Judiciary Committee and Mandatory Continuing Legal Education.

He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and has an A rating in Martindale-Hubbell. LOUIS & RUSSELL has been selected as a Tier 1 law firm by U.S. News and Report. For nine years he served as a member of the New Jersey State Bar Associations Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee. For two years he was Vice Chair of the Committee.

Mr. Louis has lectured extensively for the Institute of Continuing Education; the Administrative Office of the Courts; the New Jersey Chapter of the American Trial Lawyers Association; the Ocean, Monmouth, Middlesex, Bergen and Essex County Bar Associations; and the Ocean-Monmouth and New Jersey Society of CPAs. He has authored over forty (40) published articles and has been moderator and presenter at over fifty (50) ICLE seminars and conferences. Many of his articles have been cited in judicial decisions. For over eighteen (18) years he was both the Moderator and a Speaker at the Family Law Symposium, the principle ICLE Seminar for New Jersey Family Lawyers.

Reported Cases
Leonard v. Leonard, 428 N.J. Super. 272 (Ch. Div. 2012)
Sculler v. Sculler, 348 N.J. 374 (Ch. Div. 2001)
Rolle v. Rolle, 219 N.J. Super. 528 (Ch. Div. 1987)
Kelly v. Kelly, 217 N.J. Super. 147 (Ch. Div. 1986)
Fried v. Lakewood MUA, 171 N.J. Super. 414 (App. Div. 1979)
Supreme Court Committees
Family Part Practice Committee (1982-2012)
Special Committee on Matrimonial Litigation (Feinberg/Hymerling)
Economic Consequences of Divorce (Judge Loftus and Schaeffer)
Family Automated Case System (FACTS)
Appointment of Fiduciary and Counsel Committee
Task Force on the Status of Women
Judicial Education Committee
Mandatory Continuing Legal Education