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Susan Bender
Managing Partner at Bender & Rosenthal LLP
Professional Background
Susan Bender is a distinguished attorney and the Managing Partner at Bender & Rosenthal LLP, a boutique law firm renowned for its expertise in Family Law. With an extensive career spanning many years, she has established a diverse and loyal clientele, providing top-notch legal representation and guidance in the complex realm of domestic relations. Susan specializes in a wide range of family law matters, including mediation, asset distribution, spousal and child support, custody arrangements, and significant issues pertaining to LGBTQ and transgender rights. Her unmatched expertise and compassionate approach have made her a formidable advocate for her clients.
As a trained mediator, Susan has honed her skills to facilitate amicable resolutions in often contentious situations. Her mediation training, acquired through reputable institutions like The American Arbitration Association and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, equips her with the necessary tools to assist families in reaching the best outcomes. This dedication to mediation not only streamlines legal processes but also serves the best interests of families navigating the challenges of domestic issues.
Leadership Roles
Throughout her illustrious career, Susan has embraced various leadership roles within the legal community. Notably, she served as the Chair of the Matrimonial Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association, enabling her to influence important initiatives in family law. Her commitment to the legal profession is reflected in her Fellow designation within the esteemed American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, where she also served on the Executive Committee and continues to contribute as a current Board member.
Moreover, Susan has demonstrated her commitment to social causes and the legal profession by serving on the Board of JALBCA (Judges and lawyers Breast Cancer Alert) and being a Fellow of the American College of Family Trial Lawyers. Her experience as a past President of the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York highlights her leadership and dedication to advancing women's rights in the legal field. Notably, she has also been involved with numerous committees organized by the New York State Bar Association, emphasizing her influence and engagement in developing best practices in family law.
Education and Achievements
Susan obtained her undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton (formerly known as Harper College), a foundation that provided her with the essential skills and knowledge that would later serve her well throughout her legal career. She then pursued her law degree at Pace University School of Law, where she developed a passion for family law that would shape her professional journey.
Susan's professional excellence has garnered her several prestigious accolades and recognitions. She holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, an indicator of her high ethical standards and outstanding legal ability as evaluated by her peers. Moreover, she is consistently recognized and listed in "The Best Lawyers in America" published by Woodward/White, Inc., as well as being named an esteemed "Super Lawyer." These accomplishments reflect her commitment to her clients and her dedication to the field of family law.
Community Engagement and Impact
In addition to her remarkable career accomplishments, Susan is deeply committed to community service and legal reform. She was appointed by Justice Betty Weinberg Ellerin to serve on the Committee to Certify Law Guardians for Appointment in Domestic Relations Matters. Her involvement with the Matrimonial Commission, where she was appointed by Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, and the Matrimonial Practice Advisory and Rules Committee of the New York State Office of Court Administration, underscores her dedication to enhancing the legal framework surrounding domestic relations.
Susan's work in these committees has been pivotal in shaping policies that affect countless families, ensuring that legal standards reflect the evolving needs of society. Her significant contributions not only assist in resolving current legal issues but also help influence future practices in family law, demonstrating her commitment to both her clients and the broader community.
Conclusion
In summary, Susan Bender is not only a highly accomplished attorney specializing in Family Law but also a respected leader and advocate within the legal community. With a rich education background, extensive leadership roles, and a proven track record of excellence, she is committed to serving her clients and advancing the field of family law. As she leads Bender & Rosenthal, her focus remains on achieving the best possible outcomes for families while promoting fairness and justice within the legal system. Susan's career is a testament to her unwavering dedication, expertise, and passion for family law, making her a prominent figure in this vital area of legal practice.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
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Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.