Neil VanderWoude

After careers as a design-build contractor and as an environmental consultant, Neil went to law school. He has been practicing since 2008 as an attorney in New York and Connecticut. He is also admitted in the SDNY, the EDNY and has argued before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Neil draws on a wealth of negotiating experience that goes back well beyond his law school tenure. His natural command of math stands him in good stead for much of the office involvement with matrimonial settlement options and tax issues in divorce. Matrimonial lawyers can mitigate unnecessary damage and guide the parties with a view toward the future.

Neil also concentrates a significant portion of his practice in employment law, dealing with people who have been wrongfully terminated and victims of discrimination. It is significant in both the matrimonial and employment cases, he laments that clients always wait too long to consult a lawyer.

But Neil's great love is negotiation, and he has, for the past two years, become more and more centered on his work in alternative dispute resolution, which he explains is a very different process. For skeptics, he recommends that people look at the OCA figures on mediation settlements in the last three years, which statistics show a staggering success rate, based not only on the number of new litigants choosing the option but also on the actual rate of success and participant satisfaction. Neil has trained and will be a certified mediator when the new mandatory Court mediation programs begin in 2023.

Under Neil's supervision the firm has acquired a reputation for cordial and forthright dealing and forging cooperative and innovative settlements, but first and foremost VanderWoude & Roma is focused on the well-being of its clients.