President and Founder
“Liz” is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. While at Cardozo she wrote her law school Note on the interrelationship of law and medicine when addressing the medical, ethical and legal issues presented when treating marginally viable/23 week gestation births and later published an article with the Cardozo Women’s Law Journal on the current medical malpractice crisis in the field of obstetrics (The
Medical Malpractice Crisis in Obstetrics: A Gestalt Approach to Reform, 4 Cardozo Women’s L.J. 1 (1997).
She has been licensed to practice law in the State of New York since 1994 and is admitted in the Appellate Division, First Department and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. After spending far too many years as a commercial litigator in New York City, including working for a Federal Judge and The United States Attorney’s Office, Civil Division, Eastern District of New York and in both behemoth and boutique size law firms, she temporarily left the practice of law to pursue her own family building through assisted reproductive technologies and then adoption, and to publish her first book, The Infertility Survival Handbook (Riverhead 2004).
Shortly after publishing her first book, Liz opened up an infertility and adoption consulting business and began lecturing and writing for RESOLVE and The American Fertility Association. She also served from 2004-2006 as President of The Gladney Center for Adoption’s Tri-State Family Association. While President of the GFA she was responsible for helping over seven hundred families in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey navigate their own adoptions, and assisting The Gladney Fund in raising money to support its humanitarian efforts around the world. Shortly thereafter, she opened her own law practice in the areas of adoption and reproductive law and is now nationally recognized as The Stork Lawyer®.
She recently published her second book, The Ultimate Insider’s Guide to Adoption (Warner Books 2006), and is now hard at work on her third book, The Stork Lawyer’s® Modern Family Building Bible (Copyright 2008, pub date pending). In 2009 to much acclaim, Liz published a law review article on embryo donation, The Disposition of Cryopreserved Embryos: Why Embryo Adoption is an Inapposite Model For Application to Third Party Assisted Reproduction.
She is a professional member of RESOLVE, the American Fertility Association and The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). She is a member of the American Bar Association’s section on Family Law and its Committees on Adoption, Assisted Reproductive and Technologies Law, and Bioethics and the Law.
Liz served as the on-line moderator for www.child.com’s online adoption bulletin board where she was honored to advise prospective adoptive families alongside Pulitzer Prize nominated author, Adam Pertman (Adoption Nation, Basic Books, 2000), and was recently asked to serve on Parent Magazine’s online bulletin board as an expert moderator for both infertility and adoption support.
During 2007 and 2010 Liz taught seminars on reproductive law at Pace University School of Law. And she continues to serve on several panels of national experts for the American Bar Association’s Assisted Reproductive Technologies Law and to appear in magazines and radio interviews.
Associate
Danielle started working for Liz as an intern while in law school at the Pace University School of Law. While simultaneously working part time for Liz, Danielle managed to graduate Magna Cum Laude from Pace, where she further earned a certificate in Environmental Law and was on the editorial board of the Pace Environmental Law Review. Since she began working with Liz several years ago, Danielle has helped hundreds of clients as they have worked to build families. Danielle and Liz work side-by-side on all matters handled in the office. Danielle is admitted in New Jersey and in New York. You can reach Danielle by email at:
Please note that Ms. Kocal is currently on leave of absence.
Law Clerk
Financial Manager
Escrow Account Manager
Donna is the mother of 7 year-old triplet boys conceived through IVF. She works with Liz on managing and administering Trust Accounts used to pay out monies to donors, surrogates, and in connection with adoption plans. Donna has an extensive accounting background combined with the experience, understanding and sensitivity necessary to work with those going through infertility treatment or hormonal stimulation, especially when money matters are being discussed! If you have any questions or concerns about Trust Account Management or the distribution of funds out of your Trust Account you may email her at:
In addition to an amazing staff of highly trained lawyers and accountants, Liz also has several fantastic legal interns providing paralegal support and has a part time book keeper, Kandi Ricks, providing support to Donna Cushlanis and Kelly Dumont. And we cannot forget our amazing team of receptionists who are always happy to greet clients. Kandi can be reached at:
