Gerald Kornreich: Decades of Miami Family Law, From the First Board Exam to Chambers

Gerald I. Kornreich is a Florida Bar board-certified marital and family law attorney and the founder and senior partner of Kornreich & Associates, a boutique family law firm in Miami that represents clients in complex, high-asset and high-income marital matters. He has practiced family law since 1975, the year he established the firm, and he took the very first Marital and Family Law Board Certification exam offered in the State of Florida.

This profile traces that arc: the education and early certification that set the foundation, the committee and commission work through which Kornreich helped shape Florida family law procedure, the pro bono programs he built, the present shape of his practice, his current rankings and awards, and his published and broadcast work.

Where Gerald Kornreich started: the first Florida board certification exam and a Miami practice built from 1975

Gerald Kornreich has practiced family law since 1975, and he took the very first Board Certification exam offered in the State of Florida. He was among the first group of lawyers certified in Florida in Marital and Family Law in 1985, and he has since been recertified, most recently in 2025.

His education began at Miami Beach Senior High School. He earned a B.A. from American University with honors in political science, completed the Summer International Law Program at the University of Exeter Law School in Exeter, England, and received his J.D. from the University of Miami Law School.

The certifications and ratings Gerald Kornreich carries

Kornreich is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers. He is National Board of Trial Advocates certified. He has been rated "AV" by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory from 1990 to the present, and in 2025 he became, according to The Florida Bar, the first and only lawyer in South Florida to earn nine consecutive board certifications in Marital and Family Law.

Kornreich is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. He has litigated family law cases in the trial court, the Third District Court of Appeal and the Florida Supreme Court.

How Gerald Kornreich helped write the rules: the procedure committee, the 2001 children's commission and the judicial nominating commission

Gerald Kornreich served on the Florida Bar Family Law Section committee that established the first set of the Family Law Rules of Procedure. He has been active in the Family Law Section across several committees, and in 2020 he served on a Florida Bar Marital and Family Law Board Certification Review Panel.

In 2001, the President of The Florida Bar appointed Kornreich to vice-chair the Legal Commission on the Legal Needs of Children, described by his firm as the first committee in Florida formed to address whether children were being appropriately represented in court. He served on that commission for three years traveling throughout the state to determine the unmet legal needs of children.

Governor Jeb Bush appointed Kornreich to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit's Judicial Nominating Commission, the body that recommends judicial candidates for appointment by the Governor. He was nominated by The Florida Bar, served on the commission for five years, and was elected as its chair. His firm notes that he has been involved with numerous reported cases that have helped shape family law in the state of Florida that are cited regularly.

The pro bono programs Gerald Kornreich built: Court Care, the 41st year View from the Bench seminar and the Turkey Drive

Gerald Kornreich co-founded the Court Care program with former Chief Judge Bertila Soto. Run through the YWCA, Court Care initially provided free childcare in six Miami-Dade courthouses so that litigants without the means to pay for childcare have a place their children can stay while they are in court. Kornreich serves as the annual chair of the Court Care Fundraiser, which raises the majority of the supplemental funds that keep the centers operating each year.

For 41 years, Kornreich has been the lead organizer and moderator of the Annual View from the Bench Seminar benefitting Dade Legal Aid. The seminar recruits pro bono guardians ad litem and is attended by the entire 11th Judicial Circuit family law bench. He is also the moderator of the annual panel that showcases new judges in the family division, and he has been responsible for recruiting thousands of guardians ad litem through the program.

The Turkey Drive and the First Family Law American Inn of Court

Kornreich is a past president of The First Family Law American Inn of Court, an association of family law attorneys that promotes civility in the practice of family law. He developed the Inn's "Turkey Drive" and has coordinated it for more than thirty years. The drive raises funds to distribute Publix gift certificates to women, children and families residing in domestic violence shelters and other shelters during the holidays.

How Gerald Kornreich practices today: arbitration, private judge settings and high-asset family law

Gerald Kornreich is an AAML certified arbitrator, one of only ten (10) in Florida, and Kornreich & Associates represents clients in complex, high-asset and high-income family law matters before Florida courts and in mediation, arbitration and private judge settings. His Firm states that its clients are assured of the utmost privacy, and that it uses sophisticated mediation and alternative dispute resolution techniques to resolve and settle matters with minimal stress where possible. The Firm also has an emphasis in crisis management.

Kornreich has handled thousands of family law cases, including taking over 200 cases to trial. He has represented high-profile business leaders, physicians, attorneys, CEOs, celebrities, entertainers, professional athletes, supermodels, financial advisors, media influencers, accountants, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and their spouses.

The litigation practice at Kornreich & Associates covers divorce and complex family cases, including financial matters involving business valuation issues and complex equitable distribution, matters related to children and timesharing, alimony, child support, domestic violence and paternity. The firm also negotiates and drafts prenuptial agreements, postnuptial agreements and other settlement agreements. To support that work, the firm states that it employs and works closely with outside professionals, including:

• Forensic accountants and psychologists
• Appellate counsel
• Corporate tax and trust counsel
• Parenting coordinators

The awards and rankings Gerald Kornreich holds in 2025 and 2026

Gerald Kornreich was ranked in Chambers & Partners' 2025 High-Net-Worth Guide, a listing described as limited to the top 2 percent of attorneys and advisors in the United States working with high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients. He is also ranked in the 2026 Chambers High Net Worth guide in Family and Matrimonial Law. In a separate recognition, The Florida Bar presented Kornreich with a Senior Counselor Award for his commitment to the practice of law for over five decades.

Kornreich received the Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award, by the Chief Judge, the highest pro bono award given in Florida, presented at the Florida Supreme Court. His other honors include the Florida Bar President's Award for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, the Judge Richard Yale Feder Professionalism Award, the Richard Milstein Award for Excellence from the Dade County Bar Association, The Florida Bar "Sand Beneath My Feet" Professionalism Award, the Honorable Theodore Klein Award from the Miami-Dade Florida Association for Women Lawyers, the Ray Pearson Guardian Ad Litem Award, the Burton Young Family Law Award, the Maurice Kutner Award of Excellence, the YWCA "W" Award, Dade Legal Aid's Extraordinary Service Award, the Dade County Bar Association's Top Family Lawyer and Top Domestic Violence Lawyer awards. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers and South Florida Legal Elite for over twenty (20) consecutive years.

What Gerald Kornreich has published and where he has appeared in the media

Gerald Kornreich co-authored "Proving the Unproveable" with Jane Estricher, a publication his firm describes as one of the most cited scholarly articles on the concept of imputation of income in Florida family law cases. He previously hosted his own television show, "You and the Law" which explored current important legal issues with Judges, lawyer, Police Chiefs, and other members of the South Florida Community.

Kornreich was featured nationally for his work on the "War of the Roses" case, which aired on ABC News Primetime. He is a frequent lecturer and panelist whose advice in the area of family law is sought after, a role reflected in his long tenure moderating the View from the Bench seminar. Further detail on his practice is available through his Haute Lawyer profile.