By Hank Russell
After running a law practice in Smithtown for the past 17 years, Maria Scheuring has decided to move her office to Patchogue.
The Law Office of Maria Scheuring, Esq., located at 1 South Ocean Avenue, Suite 204A, concentrates its practice on family law, divorce law, guardianships, music and entertainment law and general litigation. The family law practice involves dealing with custody arrangements, child support and name changes for the LGBTQ+ community.
Scheuring is also a New York State-certified and trained fiduciary and guardian. She is eligible to be privately retained and court-appointed to serve in the following capacities: guardian, attorney for an alleged incapacitated person, counsel to the guardian or the receiver, court evaluator and referee.
In her music law practice, she represents bands in contract negotiations, copyright and trademark issues and has managed a few bands as well. In addition, she plays electric guitar, an instrument she has played since the age of seven.
Her general litigation practice consists of representing businesses, corporations and insurance companies. She also provides per-diem services for other attorneys and law firms and constantly updates them on the status of the case.
Scheuring earned her Juris Doctor from Fordham Law School. While attending law school, she was a clerk for Bronx County Supreme Court Judges Gerald Sheindlin (the husband of “Judge Judy” Sheindlin) and Edward Davidowitz. She was a Stein Scholar at the Stein Center for Ethics and Public Interest Law, an editor with The Environmental Law Journal and a recipient of the Archibald R. Murray Award for Public Interest Law.
She also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications with a concentration in Radio and Television with a minor in History and Philosophy, and a Master’s degree in Philosophy from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. In addition to being an attorney, she is a professor of philosophy at St. Joseph’s University in Patchogue.
In 2006, she left her job as a prosecutor for the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office and moved from the Bronx to Smithtown, where she practiced insurance defense. This May, she relocated her office to Patchogue and changed the focus of her practice away from insurance defense.
In addition to her practice, Scheuring is a volunteer at the Nassau/Suffolk Law Services, providing pro bono legal services for clients in family and matrimonial cases. In April 2017, she was named Pro Bono Attorney of the Month by Nassau Suffolk Law Services, the Suffolk County Bar Association and the Suffolk County Pro Bono Foundation.
Scheuring noted that, in the past few years, the workload has increased significantly. “It’s been busy,” she said. “In fact, it seems to be very, very busy and there seems to be no signs of stopping. We’re still dealing with a lot of the backlog from the pandemic [lockdown].”
That was one of the reasons she moved her office to Patchogue. With the growing number of cases she is handling, “I may need a bigger office soon,” she joked.
Scheuring has been involved in the community as a sponsor for the village’s inaugural Pride Parade and serving as the executive music director for the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce’s Alive After Five, a street festival held four times a year during the summer. In addition to choosing which bands get to perform, Scheuring uses her music law experience to draft and execute the necessary contracts and oversee the bands and performances.
Although she lives in Smithtown, she considers Patchogue her home away from home. “I just love it here. It’s great,” she said of the new location. “It’s like my home here. If I need services, I can use [the local businesses] here. I feel like I can trust them.”
For more information, call 631-360-0226 or visit mselawyer.com.