Marilyn T. Sugarman, Esq. is Special Counsel with The Mandel Law Firm, after previously having worked for another matrimonial boutique following her retirement from the New York County Supreme Court. In addition to representing clients in matrimonial cases, Ms. Sugarman serves as a Court-appointed Special Master in matrimonial matters to resolve discovery disputes to either get cases closer to trial or hopefully reach a settlement. For eleven years, she served as Special Referee, where she presided over hundreds of contested matrimonial matters, including economic trials involving complex financial issues. She issued decisions or actively assisted in the settlement of these matters, many of which involved high net worth individuals. Before becoming a Referee, she served for ten years as Court Attorney to the Hon. Joan B. Lobis (Ret.) in a dedicated Matrimonial Part. Early in her career, she was an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York, where tried cases in both state and federal court, and argued appeals. She has served as a presenter at CLE classes for various bar associations on how to conduct a financial trial before a Special Referee. Ms. Sugarman has been trained in advanced family mediation and in commercial mediation, and serves as a mediator and private judge.

Ms. Sugarman is a graduate of Cornell University, with a degree in Human Development, and received her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, where she was on the International Law Moot Court team and served as Notes Editor of the Brooklyn Journal of International Law. She received a writing award for her note, “America’s Responsibility to Amerasian Children: Too Little, Too Late.”