Reviews

I was referred to Joel Zuckerman by another outstanding lawyer, Stephen Alexander Shechtel (has a perfect 10 rating on Avvo) whom was recommended to me by a trusted friend’s lawyer, Brian Sadur. This friend (a doctor and father), who had experienced an international marriage/divorce with a Japanese national, fully understood the custody challenges involved when divorcing a Japanese National—for context: Japanese culture advocates sole custody to the Japanese parent as the only and safest option for all Japanese (mixed or otherwise) children (hence Japan’s nickname “the black hole of child abduction”). This friend, who despite being a father and non-Japanese, managed to successful win fair custody access to his children against a Japanese mother—therefore his recommendation was clearly sound. Because of gross manipulation and abuse of the courts by my ex-husband’s lawyer, Jessica Markham (read my google review of Jessica Markham for a more thorough understanding of her slimy fermented underskin), I didn’t get the opportunity to follow-up on the recommendation until after my children were kidnapped in Japan from the USA by their father/my-japanese-ex-husband. Shechtel was unable to take on a new case at the time, but he referred me to Joel Zuckerman, who is not only an exceptional lawyer with an intact moral compass (as he took my case knowing I had already extinguished all my funds on legal fees up to that point), but whom also is experienced with complicated international custody cases. When working on my case, I was blown away by how efficient and concise he worked with his time and communication (being mindful to not waste any of my already depleted funds). He always gave me straight answers (even when he knew it wasn’t the one I wanted to hear) and managed my expectations of what he could or couldn’t do for me. He also worked very fast to meet my fast moving Japanese court deadlines (as my ex always turned in his motions late leaving little time to prepare rebuttals—a shady trick Markham also used in US court). Despite managing my expectations realistically of a low recovery rate with Japan (to date, no non-Japanese parent has ever successfully recovered their child from japan through the Hague convention, and those recovered by other means are estimated to be around 4% in the last 40+ years), he successfully coordinated with my Japanese lawyer, Takao Tanase, to recover my children from parental abduction by means of a Habeas Corpus motion in Tokyo High Court—an insanely difficult task and even more rare feat. I can’t recommend Joel enough to parents in complicated custody battles and feel you won’t find a more hardworking and efficient lawyer with an intact integrity.

Joel Zuckerman represented me during my divorce and support enforcement/recalculation proceedings. I feel extremely fortunate to have had Joel's assistance through one of the most difficult times in my life. He is honest, professional, extremely thorough and well-prepared at all times. He also responds to questions almost instantly, which is very reassuring when your life is turned upside down by divorce. To this day I am impressed by how well he knew the facts of my case, how he checked in on me throughout the process to make sure we were working on long term solutions that would work for my family, and how he zealously protected my interests when I needed it most. My perspective is somewhat unique. Because of Joel's excellent advocacy, I was able to attend law school after my divorce. I now know that Joel has a reputation for being a hard opponent to beat in court, but is also well-liked within the legal community. This means that Joel is tough when you need him to be, but adheres to professional standards in a way that benefits, not harms, his clients' interests. Additionally, Joel's legal writing and arguments are well researched, clear, and spot on, which goes a long way toward creating successful outcomes for clients. I can tell you that, both as a client and an (almost) attorney, Joel is one of the best Maryland has to offer. I recommend him to everyone I know because he is hardworking and adept, and I will try to emulate how he treated me as a client when I represent my own clients. What more can I say than that?

I met Mr. Zuckerman by accident. I got a temporary protective order from my ex and I was given the names of 3 attorneys to call. I found Joel Zuckerman on my own without recommendations. I called all 4 attorneys and Mr. Zuckerman was the only one that went above and beyond what I expected. It was my first time going through this and I did not know what to do, think or expect. However, he went directly to the court to get the recording of what my ex told the judge that allowed the judge to grant a temporary protective order. I was impressed. I hired him and during my the protective order hearing he was able to turn everything around. I then hired him for custody because there was an agreement signed that I had no clue of what certain things meant, but he represented me well and I was able to get additional items reverted from the contract I signed. A few years later I hired him again for custody and we won custody and about $1800/month in child support. He was able to uncover a lot of income my ex was hiding. I couldn't have gone through my custody without him. He is experienced and professional, but most importantly he cares.

On February 25th 2010 my two children, Gabriel and Anastasia Hunkovic were abducted in direct violation of a US Judges Court order and taken to Trinidad. My attorney was and has been able to guide me through a very complicated legal quagmire to being closer to having my children returned to the USA from Trinidad. So far we were able to obtain a Contempt of Court with a fine of $1000/day until the children are returned, as well as a warrant for the abductors arrest and an order for my children's immediate return.The Warrant was most recently approved for Extradition. My attorney has also appeared with me during TV news interviews. He has the ability to clearly understand the legal complications and ability to come up with a clear decisive plan for a positive outcome. He also has access to a team of attorneys who have extensive experience in international cases.