Attorney Profiles

Focused, well organized and respected by her peers, Darlene Treston brings to her work both strong legal skills and a sensitivity for her firm's clients. The Floral Park, Long Island, native earned a degree in finance from Hofstra, and spent many years working as a paralegal before attending law school. Initially she handled a variety of cases -- transactional and litigation, including matrimonial law -- but over the years she increasingly focused on divorce cases, and earned a reputation for thoroughness and good judgment. She went to law school because "I saw that I could do a better job than many of the lawyers I was assisting, and I enjoyed what I did.' Indeed, she says, matrimonial law has been an ideal fit for her: "To a much greater degree than other areas of the law, our work really involves us in people's lives, in a way that has a meaningful and positive impact. That's important to me.' She joined James P. Joseph & Associates in 2003 -- "It was a great move -- James is honest, a great lawyer and a zealous advocate. And he's responsive, both to the team he works with and our clients. He's a pleasure to work with. And, you know what? You can't say that about many lawyers.' Today Ms. Treston works closely with the firm's team of lawyers -- James, David Teeter, and Elsa Tobin -- to thoroughly prepare the firm's cases. James himself says Ms. Treston is a great asset to the firm -- she is "an excellent advocate, a professional with a calm demeanor and a mature, level-headed approach to every issue, every matter involved with the cases we're responsible for.' Ms. Treston regularly attends seminars and training events related to continuing education in the law, adding to her expertise and authority as a matrimonial attorney. Away from the office Ms. Treston, a lifelong Long Islander, enjoys finding new restaurants and the occasional performance at Lincoln Center. Her grown son, Ryan Sutton, works for Bloomberg News in Manhattan.

Observations & Perspectives

When people come to see us for the first time, they often are dealing with overwhelming emotions - anger and frustration and feelings of hurt. We understand that, and are able to help clients focus on the issues important to their divorce case.

And our job, in the beginning especially, is to listen. We want to learn what is important to our clients, what are the aspects of their life they are concerned about most, at that moment and for the long term, and then we can go about attaining the appropriate outcome for the individual.
We'll explain the court system and the entire process related to it. We'll explain what they can expect, and what the likely outcome will be -- for them, and for their family. This way, when there are decisions for the client to make, he or she does not have to do so in the dark. We then target our efforts to maximize the outcome for the client.

We handle fewer cases, per attorney, than most matrimonial firms. We're not a mill, grinding out as many cases as we can. That allows us to focus on those cases we do take on -- as a team -- in a way that many firms can't and don't.

All of us at James P. Joseph & Associates make it a point to be as responsive as possible. We return telephone calls. We are available to our clients. And we provide informed and practical advice to our clients.

I love working with James. He's fair, he knows the law, and he is focused on obtaining the best possible outcome for our clients. I truly believe that the clients of JPJ&A receive the best possible representation. I wouldn't be here if I didn't have that kind of confidence in the firm and its lead attorney.

I've reflected a great deal about why I was drawn to divorce law. A lot has to do with being there for people when you are most needed. And a lot had to do with recognizing that I could offer a level of representation not easily found elsewhere. After seeing how JPJ&A handles its cases, I knew that this was the best firm for me and our clients.