EDITOR'S NOTE: Mike Ostrow retired from private practice in 2014. BIO: Michael Ostrow is one of the most knowledgeable and experienced matrimonial attorneys practicing in New York State today. In more than 45 years of practice, the Baldwin, N.Y. native has built a remarkable reputation for both the depth of his legal skills and his sensitivity toward clients. Indeed, his career has been a part of the trajectory of divorce law itself - from a relatively quiet area of the law in the 1960s to one of the most complex and multi-dimensional legal disciplines today.

After graduating from Cornell University Law School where he was nominated to the Order of the Coif and was associate editor-in-chief of the Law Review, Ostrow said it was "happenstance" that led to his joining a small Long Island firm. It was in that venue that Ostrow worked with Nathaniel Taylor, the longtime dean and icon of Long Island divorce law. By the 1970s the firm of Taylor, Atkins & Ostrow was the first name in the field.

Over the years, Ostrow's reputation has been buttressed by his leadership in professional organizations, and by trying cases in courts throughout the region, including the State Supreme Court.

In the late 1990s, Ostrow teamed up with longtime friend and one-time rival Stephen Schlissel. They are the co-founders and senior partners of Schlissel Ostrow Karabatos, PLLC, of Garden City, one of the largest independent firms devoted to matrimonial law in the state.

Ostrow is a resident of Melville and a former resident of Dix Hills.