Marilyn T. Sugarman, Esq. is a member of the firm’s Matrimonial and Family Law practice group, where she represents individual clients in complex, high-conflict matrimonial and family court matters. Her current practice is centered on litigation, including trying cases in both New York State Supreme Court and Family Court. Known for her disciplined preparation and deep understanding of both the law and family dynamics, Ms. Sugarman provides clients with strong courtroom advocacy while ensuring they remain informed and empowered throughout the process.

Although litigation comprises the primary focus of her present work, Ms. Sugarman also serves as a mediator, private judge, Special Master, and parenting coordinator. She has completed advanced training in both family and commercial mediation, and her background in Human Development and Family Studies further enhances her ability to assist families in navigating conflict, communication challenges, and restructuring during separation and divorce.

For more than a decade, Ms. Sugarman served as a Special Referee, where she presided over hundreds of contested matrimonial matters, including complex financial trials, post-judgment proceedings, contempt hearings, and modification applications. She reviewed more than 11,000 uncontested divorces, evaluating prenuptial agreements, settlement agreements, and QDROs. In addition to her matrimonial docket, she presided over commercial matters, conducted hearings on attorneys’ fees and damages, resolved significant discovery disputes, and issued decisions on a broad range of substantive motions. Her judicial experience affords her rare insight into how judges assess evidence, evaluate credibility, and determine equitable outcomes.

Ms. Sugarman has presented CLE programs for bar associations on conducting financial trials before Special Referees and has been invited to speak to judges and court personnel on best practices in matrimonial litigation. She previously served as Co-Chair of the Matrimonial and Family Law Committee of the New York Women’s Bar Association. [MM1] 

Before her judicial appointment, Ms. Sugarman served for ten years as Court Attorney to the Hon. Joan B. Lobis (Ret.), drafting trial and motion decisions in all matters before a Matrimonial Part. Earlier in her career, she was an Assistant Attorney General in the New York State Department of Law, where she tried cases in state and federal court and argued more than 25 appeals,. She began her legal career as a Pro Se Law Clerk in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, where she oversaw all legal and administrative facets of pro se litigation.

EDUCATION

• Brooklyn Law School, J.D., 1984
• Cornell University, B.S. in Human Development (Human Development & Family Studies), 1981

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• New York Women's Bar Association 
  
  • Co-Chair, Matrimonial and Family Law Committee (2002-2005)
    
• Admitted to the New York State Bar 

PRESENTATIONS, PUBLISHED WORKS AND HONORS

• “Practice Before Special Referees in New York County,” New York Women’s Bar Association, 2019
• “How to Try a Financial Case Before a Special Referee,” NYCLA, 2018
  
•  “How to Try a Financial Case Before a Special Referee,” NYWBA, 2018
  
•  “Practice Before Special Referees,” NYCLA Committee on the Supreme Court, 2015
  
•  “Practice in the Matrimonial Parts of New York County,” Panels for Matrimonial Judges, 2000–2008
• “Until Death Do Us Part: How Old is to Old to Get Married?,” New York Law Journal, Feb 28, 2025
• “No License? No Problem (Maybe),” New York Law Journal, Feb 13, 2024
• “Before Rushing to Pledge a Sorority, Determine if Divorced Parents Pledged to Pay,” NYSBA Family Law Review, Dec 1, 2023
• “Attention New York Divorce Lawyers: Learn Insurance Law,” New York Law Journal, Oct 4, 2023
• "Choice of Venue When the Parties Have More Than One Home: Can a Plaintiff Still ‘Fisch’ for a Friendlier Forum,” New York Law Journal · Aug 24, 2022
• “Proof of Expenses: Time for an Amendment to CPLR 4533-a,” New York Law Journal, Nov 17, 2021 West’s General Practice in New York, Chapter 18, Civil Rights Law (1998)[MM3]
• Moore’s Federal Practice, Chapter 25, Substitution of Parties (Draft Author, 1997)
• “America’s Responsibility to Amerasian Children: Too Little, Too Late,” Brooklyn Journal of International Law (1984)