Stephen W. Schlissel has been considered one of the leading matrimonial attorneys on Long Island - and, indeed, among top lawyers nationally - for nearly four decades. Tough, creative and with a wry, sharp wit, Schlissel is known not only for his broad legal skills but for his business leadership, having built one of the largest matrimonial practices on Long Island. None of this is terribly surprising, considering his roots: Schlissel, the son of a judge, went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business as an undergraduate, and later to Harvard Law School, from which he graduated cum laude. Early on he joined now Federal Judge Jack Weinstein, who was County Attorney; Schlissel also worked for Bernard Meyer, another legend of the New York bar - and later, the New York bench. It was such mentors that groomed Schlissel for professional leadership early on, and, with new divorce statutes in the mid 1960s, the bright young attorney was able to grow with the law itself. Indeed, Schlissel was the attorney for the successful party in a number of ground breaking cases, including the important Christian case. In the 1980s Schlissel, recognizing the devastating emotional impact of divorce on parents and children, co-founded Parent Education and Custody Effectiveness (PEACE), which continues to educate divorcing parents.