Movers & Shakers

Sheresky Aronson Mayefsky & Sloan, whose lawyers made headlines representing supermodel Christie Brinkley's fourth husband in the couple's messy divorce, is going through a break up of its own.

Partners confirmed that name partner Norman M. Sheresky will no longer be part of the firm. The 15-lawyer firm has been reconstituted as Aronson Mayefsky & Sloan.

Naturally, both sides are lawyering up for the divorce. Thomas P. Puccio, who represented Francis X. Morrisey in the criminal trial over the looting of socialite Brooke Astor's estate, has been hired to represent Sheresky, Aronson Mayefsky managing partner Allan E. Mayefsky confirmed.

The new firm has retained Bruce E. Fader, a Proskauer Rose partner and former chair of its litigation practice, Mayefsky said. He would not rule out the possibility of a judicial accounting of the firm's assets.

Puccio did not respond to a request for comment. Sheresky, in an e-mail, declined to comment. At 82, he is well known in the divorce bar, having represented the ex-wives of actors James Gandolfini, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall. More recently, he represented Brinkley's ex-husband Peter Cook in their bitter parting.

Robert S. Cohen, a partner at Cohen Lans who recently sparred with Sheresky in the Brinkley divorce as the supermodel's lawyer, called his sometime adversary “an icon of our profession.”

Sheresky is a past president of the New York chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a founder of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and a founding member of the American College of Family Trial Lawyers. He represented the wife in the 1985 case of Karp v. Karp, New York's first large equitable-distribution case, in which he won 30% of the marital assets for his client.

Sheresky Aronson opened shop in 1995. Sheresky and Aronson had been practicing together since 1983, first at the now defunct Colton, Hartnick, Yamin & Sheresky, and later at Baer Marks & Upham. They were joined in 1987 by Mayefsky, who practiced with Aronson in the 1970s as an associate at Proskauer Rose. Mayefsky became the managing partner of Sheresky Aronson and will continue to hold that position at Aronson Mayefsky. The firm gained its fourth name partner, Pamela Sloan, in 2007 from Herman, Sloan, Robarge & Sullivan.

Both Mayefsky and Aronson declined to comment on the reasons for Sheresky's departure. The firm, under the name Aronson Mayefsky & Sloan, registered with the Department of State's Division of Corporations on July 30. No other lawyers are expected to leave.

Sheresky Aronson Mayefsky & Sloan, whose lawyers made headlines representing supermodel Christie Brinkley's fourth husband in the couple's messy divorce, is going through a break up of its own.

Partners confirmed that name partner Norman M. Sheresky will no longer be part of the firm. The 15-lawyer firm has been reconstituted as Aronson Mayefsky & Sloan.

Naturally, both sides are lawyering up for the divorce. Thomas P. Puccio, who represented Francis X. Morrisey in the criminal trial over the looting of socialite Brooke Astor's estate, has been hired to represent Sheresky, Aronson Mayefsky managing partner Allan E. Mayefsky confirmed.

The new firm has retained Bruce E. Fader, a Proskauer Rose partner and former chair of its litigation practice, Mayefsky said. He would not rule out the possibility of a judicial accounting of the firm's assets.

Puccio did not respond to a request for comment. Sheresky, in an e-mail, declined to comment. At 82, he is well known in the divorce bar, having represented the ex-wives of actors James Gandolfini, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall. More recently, he represented Brinkley's ex-husband Peter Cook in their bitter parting.

Robert S. Cohen, a partner at Cohen Lans who recently sparred with Sheresky in the Brinkley divorce as the supermodel's lawyer, called his sometime adversary “an icon of our profession.”

Sheresky is a past president of the New York chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a founder of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and a founding member of the American College of Family Trial Lawyers. He represented the wife in the 1985 case of Karp v. Karp, New York's first large equitable-distribution case, in which he won 30% of the marital assets for his client.

Sheresky Aronson opened shop in 1995. Sheresky and Aronson had been practicing together since 1983, first at the now defunct Colton, Hartnick, Yamin & Sheresky, and later at Baer Marks & Upham. They were joined in 1987 by Mayefsky, who practiced with Aronson in the 1970s as an associate at Proskauer Rose. Mayefsky became the managing partner of Sheresky Aronson and will continue to hold that position at Aronson Mayefsky. The firm gained its fourth name partner, Pamela Sloan, in 2007 from Herman, Sloan, Robarge & Sullivan.

Both Mayefsky and Aronson declined to comment on the reasons for Sheresky's departure. The firm, under the name Aronson Mayefsky & Sloan, registered with the Department of State's Division of Corporations on July 30. No other lawyers are expected to leave.