NEW YORK, NY
MY NEW YORK STORY
MARILYN CHINITZ: GUTS, MOXIE, & A LITTLE DETECTIVE WORK By Bailey Beckett
he’s represented Tom Cruise and Michael Douglas. She was named one of New York’s 50 Top Women Lawyers and has appeared numerous times on The Today Show and 20/20 for her expertise in law. She even hosts a popular podcast. But solving a murder was not something Marilyn Chinitz, one of the legal world’s most prominent matrimony attorneys, was expected to do. And yet, the instincts she has developed throughout her career told her something was amiss when she learned a woman had been murdered in her New York home during a contentious divorce and buried quickly after. “I said [to the victim’s siblings] ‘You’ve buried your sister. I think the husband killed her,” Chinitz says, years later. So, the family hired a private investigator, found evidence, and had the body exhumed based on her intuition. The husband was eventually convicted of murder. It’s all in a day’s work for Chinitz, a partner for the prestigious legal firm Blank Rome LLP, with 600 attorneys spread across 14 offices, including New York and Shanghai.
A SKILLED NEGOTIATOR
Chinitz, who graduated with honors from New York University and attained her law degree from Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, is widely seen as one of her profession’s most skilled negotiators. However, her expertise in premarital and postnuptial agreements, spousal and child support, complex financial arrangements, same-sex divorce/dissolution matters, and paternity cases are what makes her so sought after. She has also litigated several cross-border and international custody cases, one of which involved returning abducted children in proceedings filed under The Hague Convention, and regularly cooperates with foreign counsels abroad. One case illustrates the ingenuity she brings to her cases: When she learned that a parent in an opposing divorce case had fled to Italy with her child illegally, she hired a private detective to pose as a bride looking for a dress and sent her to the woman’s family bridal shop. Once again, her instincts proved correct. “You look back and think, Wow, this is like a movie!” Chinitz said. “There isn’t a story I haven’t heard.” It’s not all cloak and dagger. Most of the time, Chinitz advises clients on the realities of matrimony law and assesses their resolve if that’s something they want to do. “You can educate them as to whether or not divorce is something that they want to embark on,” she says.
Most people spend most of what they make and live beyond their means. OUR CITY, YOUR LIFE
“Once I understand their reasoning, I can extrapolate what their motivations are and how they are thinking. You know right away if somebody says, I’m done, I want to move on, but you also know if somebody is hesitant and making decisions without full knowledge or having done their due diligence. I like the idea of people at least trying to be cooperative,” Chinitz says. “Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t.” One of the most sensitive areas she deals with is child custody and support agreements, which are rife with tension. Chinitz advises her clients to start with the children’s needs. “The lifestyle your children have enjoyed throughout your marriage is and should be a valid consideration in setting the correct child support amount,” she says. “However, parties must be realistic as well. Most people spend most of what they make and live beyond their means. Even the more affluent clients may experience sacrifices when having to establish two households, decrease budgets, increase travel expenses, and live with the realities of increased responsibility as single parents.” It’s just one of the many obstacles Chinitz navigates throughout her day and manages successfully. Outside of the courtroom, Chinitz, the proud mother of two accomplished adult children, loves cycling around the city and is a devoted participant in fundraising drives. A globetrotter at heart, she also loves to travel to international destinations.