Episode 75: "Lawrence Jay Braunstein"

Lawrence Jay Braunstein is a partner in the law firm of Braunstein & Zuckerman, Esqs, in White Plains, New York. His practice includes the areas of Matrimonial and Family Law and related civil and criminal litigation. Since 1985 he has specifically focused his practice in the areas of child custody litigation, including parent-child contact problems and issues involving allegations of parental alienation and refuse/resist dynamics, and litigation involving allegations of child sexual abuse, physical abuse and abusive head trauma (shaken baby) in matrimonial, family and criminal cases. He is recognized by his peers as an expert in these areas and is often hired by other lawyers to assist them in their litigation because of his expertise in these areas.

He regularly lectures as an invited speaker, both nationally and internationally, in the areas of child sexual abuse, physical abuse and shaken baby, child custody litigation, expert witness testimony, courtroom psychology, trial procedures, and on various other criminal, family and matrimonial law topics to judges, attorneys, medical and mental health professionals, law enforcement personnel (State and Federal), prosecutors (State and Federal), and child protection service personnel. 

Since 1999 he has served on the faculty of the New York City Police Department Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigation Course and, since 2014, on the faculty of the New York City Police Department Homicide Investigator Course. In 2004 he was the only defense attorney invited by the FBI to participate as a member of the working group to plan the International Online Child Sexual Victimization Symposium, and to present to both the working group and the Symposium. He has conducted hundreds of training with police departments across the county, with the FBI Behavioral Analysis Units, and with police agencies in England, Scotland, Wales, and South Africa. 

Outside of his practice, Larry believes in the importance of adequately training the next generation of lawyers in both litigation and non-litigation skills. To further that goal he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Hofstra University School of Law in Hempstead, New York where he teaches Modern Divorce Advocacy, and Child Abuse and Neglect.

Since 2007 he has been named as one of the “Top Attorneys in the New York Metro Area” as published in the New York Times Magazine’s Super Lawyer Section, and one of the top Twenty-Five “Super Lawyers” in the Westchester County, New York, area. In 2014 he was rated “AV Preeminent” by the Martindale Hubbell Peer Review Ratings, indicating his high level of ethical standards and professional ability, generated from evaluations by other members of the bar and the judiciary in the United States and Canada. In 2018 he was included in Best Lawyers in America, and his firm was included in Best Law Firms in America.

He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the International Academy of Family Lawyers.

Larry is a respected member of the legal community and is involved in leadership positions with several professional organizations. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, Family Law Section, Executive Committee and Former Co-Chair of the Committee on Child Custody; Past Legal Chair of the New York State Interdisciplinary Forum on Mental Health and Family Law, and Past Chair of the Westchester County Bar Association, Family Law Section. He is Vice President of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) New York Chapter, and a member of the Expert Faculty of the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN). He is also a Past Co-President of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) New York Chapter, and a member of the Board of Directors of AFCC International.

Larry is a member of the Board of Editors of, and is a contributor to, the Journal of Child Custody and the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma. He co-authored the article titled 'The Impact of Internet Pornography Use and Cybersexual Behavior on Child Custody and Visitation' which was published in the Journal of Child Custody (10 J. Child. Custody 68).