Attorney & Staff

Attorney Barbara Strauss has maintained a private practice for over 15 years dedicated to advocating for men, and women coping with divorce, family law disputes or criminal charges. She represents clients in Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties. In her 23 years as a lawyer first as a prosecutor for Orange County, New York, in the area of child and domestic abuse, and then in private practice Barbara Strauss has advocated for justice. At the Law Office of Barbara J. Strauss, she uses that passion to help clients face difficult problems in divorce, family law, and criminal defense.

Divorce and Family Law

Ms. Strauss seeks to resolve family law issues and divorce with dignity. She utilizes the collaborative law approach or negotiation whenever possible. When court proceedings are necessary, she approaches litigation with a thorough, and civilized style while at the same time zealously representing the interests of her client.

Ms. Strauss has developed a reputation for her in-depth knowledge of some of the more complicated issues facing a Family Law practitioner. She has litigated complex cases involving valuation of family owned corporations, interaction of divorce and bankruptcy, division of pension benefits and survival rights, distribution of stock options, tax consequences of divorce, and inter-state custody and support issues.

Barbara Strauss is also a court appointed law guardian representing children's interests in divorce, custody and child abuse matters. For over five years she has co-taught the Parents Apart teaching parents in the midst of custody disputes about the impact of litigation on children.

Richard Mandell, the former Orange County Support Magistrate, is of counsel to the firm. Mr. Mandell has received awards from the Orange County Bar Association and the Women's Bar Association for his work in developing innovative approaches to peaceful resolution of family conflict. He specializes in collaborative law and mediation.

Criminal Law

Barbara Strauss was a Senior Assistant District Attorney in the Orange County District Attorney's office for eight years. She was in charge of the prosecution of child sex abuse cases and supervised the appellate litigation.

As a prosecutor and defense attorney Ms. Strauss has tried the gamut of criminal cases ranging from straight-forward driving while intoxicated matters, to A-1 felony drug prosecutions, child abuse, white collar fraud, rape, criminally negligent homicide and murder. She has also handled parole revocation hearings and probation violation proceedings.

Appeals

This law firm is one of the few local matrimonial and criminal practices which has significant expertise in appellate litigation in addition to the trial level advocacy. Barbara Strauss has personally drafted and filed over one hundred and fifty appellate briefs and has argued cases in the Appellate Division, Second Department and Third Department and Court of Appeals as well as in Federal Court.