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For nearly five decades, Professor Emeritus Merril Sobie has been one of the defining members of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at 91��Ƶ faculty. Since joining the Law School in 1978, he has educated generations of lawyers while simultaneously helping shape the legal landscape for children and families throughout New York. A scholar, teacher, advocate, and public servant, Professor Sobie has influenced family law at virtually every level, from court administration and legislative reform to legal scholarship, judicial decision-making, and notably through the education of generations of law students turned lawyers.

Few legal scholars can claim that their work has become part of the fabric of a state's jurisprudence. Professor Sobie is one of them. Widely regarded as a leading authority on New York Family Court and family law, his scholarship has been cited repeatedly by the New York Court of Appeals and courts throughout the state. Most recently, in a significant 2026 child welfare decision, New York's highest court relied on Professor Sobie's historical analysis of New York's foster care laws in striking down a statewide regulatory program.

Even after more than four decades on the faculty and attaining emeritus status, Professor Sobie remains an active force in the field. He continues to teach courses at the Law School, while also writing, advising, and advocating in the field to which he has devoted his professional life.

“My current major project is rewriting and updating a major part of the McKinney commentaries to the New York Family Court Act,” Professor Sobie said. “I have also published articles in the New York Law Journal, submitted an amicus brief in a recent Court of Appeals case, and continue my advocacy on behalf of the New York State Bar Association. This fall, I shall again teach at the Law School.”

Professor Sobie did not begin his career intending to become a family law scholar. In fact, he never took a family law course while earning his JD from New York University School of Law. However, his path changed in 1968, when Bernard Botein, the legendary Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department, asked him to conduct a comprehensive study of New York City's Family Court.

“Originally I had no interest in Family Law,” Professor Sobie recalled. “One day in 1968, Justice Bernard Botein asked me to commence a long, in-depth study of the Family Court. My report, which hit the front page of the New York Times, recommended a total reform of the court. I was then appointed Executive Officer of the Family Court in New York City, where I implemented the reforms and ran the day-to-day operations. I have never looked back.” For Professor Sobie, and ultimately New York’s family justice system, that study was a turning point.

Before joining academia, Professor Sobie served in a series of influential positions within New York's court system, including Assistant to the Director of Administration of the Courts and Executive Officer of the Family Court of the City of New York. Drawing on that experience, he became one of the principal architects of modern family and juvenile justice law in New York. Among his most consequential achievements was serving as principal author of New York's Juvenile Delinquency Code, enacted in 1982, legislation that continues to govern juvenile justice proceedings throughout the state. Over the years, Professor Sobie also co-authored landmark studies on the legal representation of children, drafted standards governing children's representation, advised state commissions on child welfare, and helped establish best practices that continue to guide lawyers and courts.

When asked what has motivated his scholarship and reform efforts, he points to a consistent theme. “Largely my experience in judicial administration and my interest in reforming the legal system to serve the public, particularly the disadvantaged public.”

After nearly a decade in court administration, Professor Sobie was drawn to academia and the opportunity to help build what was then a young and ambitious law school. “I had always been interested in academia,” he said. “After a decade in court administration, I applied for a tenure-track position at 91��Ƶ, which was then a new, promising law school in Westchester, where I resided.”

What began as a tenure-track appointment evolved into a career spanning nearly half a century and established Professor Sobie as one of the institution's longest-serving and most influential faculty members. As the Law School grew and evolved, so too did his role as a teacher, scholar, mentor, and authority on family law for the institution.

During his nearly five decades at the Law School, Professor Sobie helped establish the Law School's reputation and legacy. His scholarship, advocacy, and leadership in the field brought distinction to the institution, while his commitment to teaching helped shape generations of students who would go on to careers in family law, public service, child advocacy, government, and the judiciary.

Throughout his career, Professor Sobie has authored books, treatises, commentaries, and articles that have become essential resources for judges, practitioners, and scholars. His works include New York Family Court Practice and The Creation of Juvenile Justice: A History of Children's Law. For decades, he has authored the official McKinney's Practice Commentaries to the Family Court Act and Domestic Relations Law, resources widely relied upon by courts throughout New York State.

Professor Sobie is one of the most cited living legal scholars by the New York Court of Appeals, and by New York courts generally.

—Professor Emeritus Michael Mushlin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law at 91��Ƶ colleague Emeritus Professor Michael Mushlin notes that Professor Sobie's influence extends far beyond academia. “Professor Sobie is one of the most cited living legal scholars by the New York Court of Appeals, and by New York courts generally,” Mushlin said. “His writing is regularly relied upon by the courts, and he is the leading expert on New York's Family Court and family law. It is an impressive achievement that speaks to the depth and importance of Professor Sobie's contributions and increases the prestige of our law school.”

Recently, New York's highest court cited an amicus curiae brief submitted by Professor Sobie in a significant child welfare case. In its 2026 decision, the Court of Appeals relied on his historical analysis of New York's foster care laws in striking down a statewide regulatory program. In doing so, the court acknowledged Professor Sobie’s direct contribution to its reasoning. The decision added to an extraordinary record of citations by New York's highest court, underscoring the enduring authority of his scholarship and expertise.

While Professor Sobie's scholarship has shaped New York law, colleagues and former students often point first to his impact in the classroom through the generations of students he has taught since arriving on campus in 1978. Over more than four decades, students have filled his classrooms to study Family Law, Children and the Law, Advanced Family Law, Comparative Family Law, Juvenile Justice, and Jurisprudence, learning directly from someone who helped write many of the statutes, standards, and legal frameworks they were studying.

Drawing on his experience as a court administrator, legislative drafter, scholar, and practitioner, Professor Sobie encouraged students to think critically about how legal systems affect real people and real families. “I always tried to connect my classes with legal doctrine and lived experience,” shared Professor Sobie. “I would often challenge my students to consider both the technical and human dimensions of the law.”

Even after attaining emeritus status, Professor Sobie has remained deeply connected to the Law School and its students, continuing to teach, mentor, and share the benefit of a career spent improving New York's justice system. While his legislative and scholarly accomplishments are widely recognized, Professor Sobie places teaching among the achievements of which he is most proud. When asked to identify the highlights of his career, he points to “the reform of the Family Court, my legislation, my study of the representation of children, and my teaching and advising of students.”

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Professor Emeritus Jay Carlisle described Professor Sobie as a transformative figure whose impact extends well beyond the classroom. “Merril deserves enormous credit for the evolution of family law in New York and beyond,” Professor Carlisle said. “For decades, judges, practitioners, policymakers, and scholars have looked to his work for guidance. He is held in extraordinarily high regard throughout the field—not only because of his scholarship, but because his work has consistently improved the lives of children and families.”

Colleagues, like Professor Carlisle, say Professor Sobie’s dedication to students has been as enduring as his commitment to scholarship. “Merril's impact on the Law School cannot be separated from his impact on family law. For generations of students, he has been the person who introduced them to the field and challenged them to think about how the law affects children and families. His scholarship brought distinction to the Law School, but his dedication to teaching and mentoring is every bit as important as his academic achievements. Few people have contributed more to the development of modern family law, and few legal scholars can claim that their writings have become part of the fabric of a state's jurisprudence. Merril’s scholarship has done exactly that.”

Professor Sobie's contributions have been recognized repeatedly throughout his career. In 2020, the New York State Bar Association honored him with a special Lifetime Achievement Award for decades of contributions to family law and children's law, a recognition celebrated by then-Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals Janet DiFiore.

It has been a long road, but a wonderful journey. In recent years I have experienced an additional benefit. Representing and advocating for children keeps one perennially young.

—Professor Emeritus Merril Sobie

In 2023, Professor Sobie and his wife, Hope, established the Merril and Hope Sobie Fund through a $100,000 gift to the New York Bar Foundation to support initiatives that advance justice for children. Of the gift, Professor Sobie stated: “This gift reflected a lifelong mission that has held true throughout my career: ensuring that children and families have access to a legal system that is fair, effective, and compassionate.”

Despite a career that has influenced legislation, court systems, legal education, and judicial decision-making, Professor Sobie remains modest about his path. His advice to young lawyers reflects lessons drawn from a lifetime of public service. “Be flexible and do not decide until you have some experience,” he said. “I became prominent in a field I had never considered until several years after receiving a JD.”

Today, Professor Emeritus Merril Sobie remains one of the most respected voices in family and children's law. Yet his legacy extends beyond the legislation he drafted, the court reforms he implemented, and the scholarship cited by New York's highest courts. It also lives on in the thousands of Haub Law students he has taught, advised, and inspired since arriving at the Law School in 1978. For nearly half a century, Professor Sobie has helped shape both New York law and the institution he has long called home.

Of his career, Professor Sobie notes, “It has been a long road, but a wonderful journey. In recent years I have experienced an additional benefit. Representing and advocating for children keeps one perennially young.”