Although still in her 30s, Jacqueline Newman is already one of New York City's leading young divorce attorneys. Her strengths include intelligence, poise and focus, all of which have earned her a place among the profession's elite, according to colleagues. She was recruited while still in law school by renowned matrimonial lawyer Barry Berkman; by age 31 she was already named a partner of the firm. For over a decade she has represented clients in high-stakes, high-net-worth cases. She has built an expansive practice preparing prenuptial and post-nuptial agreements. Additionally, Newman is the Berkman Bottger firm's de facto managing partner, capably handling those day-to-day and strategic business issues many lawyers shun. Berkman and litigator Walter F. Bottger regard her as central to their firm's success. Beneath her youthful appearance, calm manner, broad smile and brunette bangs, lies a competence and toughness that shouldn't be underestimated, peers say. Newman grew up in New York's northern suburbs, the daughter of psychotherapists who knew she was "too assertive and aggressive for their profession." From an early age, she had her sights set on law. At the University of Delaware she majored in sociology with a focus on Law & Society. She graduated in just over three years, and completed Manhattan's Cardozo School of Law in two and a half years. There she excelled in matrimonial law, with a course taught by Berkman, one of the nation's foremost practitioners and advocates of collaborative law. Since passing the New York State bar, she handles exclusively matrimonial cases. Today Berkman Bottger Newman & Rodd, with seven lawyers in its midtown offices, has what is likely the broadest offering of family-law services - what Newman calls "process choices" -- for a firm its size in the city. Berkman's collaborative-law focus accompanies Bottger's litigation practice, while Newman herself practices across the spectrum of mediation, collaborative and traditional litigation. That range poses no existential crisis for Newman: "My basic philosophy is advocating not to be adversarial - because the price paid, especially by the children involved, is too high." Newman, too, has strong instincts for "what works" for clients, guiding them into processes suiting their circumstance. Finally, like many good young lawyers Newman has proven adept at the modern practice: Making media appearances, applying technology effectively and developing a near-constant channel with clients. (A colleague recalls how Newman sent email replies on her Blackberry to a client -- while in labor with her second child.) Now married and with two small children, Newman manages to balance all: "I've loved my work - and our firm -- from the start. I know our clients feel that."