Merril Sobie

  • Professor of Law Emeritus
Preston Hall 101
Contact professor directly to schedule an appointment; walk-ins welcome

Education

BA, Brooklyn College
JD, New York University School of Law

For media inquiries, contact:

Rachael Silva
Assistant Dean for External Affairs
(914) 422-4354

Professor Merril Sobie has specialized in family and children’s law. He teaches Jurisprudence, Children and the Law, Advanced Family Law, and Comparative Family Law.  He has authored two books, New York Family Court Practice and The Creation of Juvenile Justice: A History of Children’s Law, has published the official McKinney’s Commentaries to the Family Court Act and the Domestic Relations Law, and has authored numerous articles concerning children’s laws. Professor Sobie also co-authored the New York State Bar Association Study of the Legal Representation of Children, drafted the official Bar Association Standards and Commentaries for Representing Children, and drafted the New York Juvenile Delinquency Code. He is the chairperson of the New York State Bar Association Committee on Children and the Law and is a fellow of the New York Bar Foundation. He formerly served as executive officer of the New York City Family Court and as assistant to the director of administration of the Courts, First Judicial Department.

Publications

SSRN

Books

New York Family Court Practice (with Cheryl J. Bradley) (2006) (updated annually)

Standards and Commentaries for Representing Children, New York State Bar Association, 2004

McKinney's Practice Commentaries to the Domestic Relations Law and the Family Court Act (1987 - present).

Law Guardian Representation Standards (with the New York State Bar Association Committee on Children and the Law). Albany, N.Y.: New York State Bar Association, 2d ed. 1999.

Law Guardian Representation Standards: Volume II: Custody Cases. With Lucia B. Whisenand and the New York State Bar Association Committee on Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare. Albany, N.Y.: New York State Bar Association, 1992.

Initiating Family Court Appeals: An Overview for Law Guardians. Albany, N.Y.: Law Guardian Backup Center, 1988.

The Creation of Juvenile Justice: A History of New York's Children's Laws. Albany: New York Bar Foundation, 1987.

Law Guardians in New York State: A Study of the Legal Representation of Children (with Jane Knitzer) Albany: New York State Bar Association, 1984.

The Juvenile Offender Act: A Study of the Act's Effectiveness and Impact on the New York Juvenile Justice System. New York: Foundation for Child Development, 1981.

Chapter

"Rights of the Child Charged with Violating the Law," chapter in Children's Rights in America: U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child Compared with United States Law. Chicago, Il.: American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, 1990.

Articles

"Pity the Child: The Age of Delinquency in New York," Pace Law Review (2010).

"The Child Client: Representing Children in Child Protective Proceedings," 22 Touro Law Review 745 (2006).

"Commentaries for the Family Court Act and the Domestic Relations Law," in McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York Annotated (2004, 2005, 2006).

"Second Hand Smoke and Child Custody Determinations - A Relevant Factor or a Smoke Screen," 18 Pace Law Review 41 (1997). 

"Whatever Happened to the `Best Interests' Analysis in New York Relocation Cases? A Response," 15 Pace Law Review 685 (1995).

"The Child's Right to Meaningful Representation," New York Law Journal, Nov. 30, 1993, at 1.

"The Meaningful Representation of Children: An Analysis of the State Bar Association Law Guardian Legislative Proposal," 64 New York State Bar Journal 52 (May-June, 1992).

"Representing Child Clients: Role of Counsel or Law Guardian," New York Law Journal, Oct. 6, 1992, at 1.

"Law Guardians in Supreme and Surrogate's Courts," New York Law Journal, February 20, 1990, at 1.

"The Family Court: An Historical Survey," 60 New York State Bar Journal 53 (July, 1988).

"Privacy in Family Court - New Rules Faulted," New York Law Journal, June 16, 1986, at 1.

"Three Family Court Proceedings - Separate But Not Distinct," New York Law Journal, March 3, 1986, at 1.

"The Representation of Children: A Summary and Analysis of the Bar Association Law Guardian Study," 57 New York State Bar Journal 41 (February 1985).

"The Juvenile Offender Act: Effectiveness and Impact on the New York Juvenile Justice System," 26 New York Law School Law Review 677 (1981).

Book Review

Review of Child Custody, Foster Care and Adoptions by Joseph R. Carrieri. New York Law Journal, Dec. 23, 1992, at 2.