Vikki Ziegler

Vikki Ziegler is an American lawyer and author. Her book ''The Pre-marital Planner: A Complete Legal Guide to a Perfect Marriage'' was published in 2012, and from 2014 to 2016 she was the focus of the reality television show ''Untying the Knot''. She practices matrimonial law, and is a founding partner in the firm Ziegler and Zemsky LLC. As a businessperson, she has founded several divorce related websites.

Early life

Vikki Ziegler was born in Manhattan and raised in Wayne, New Jersey by South African parents. Ziegler's parents divorced in 1985 when she was twelve years old, and reportedly, she argued for (and convinced) her parents to seek joint custody during the proceedings. The experience gave her the motivation to become a divorce attorney herself when she became an adult. She attended the Gloria Frances School of Performing Arts and graduated from Wayne Hills High School in 1990. She worked as a fashion model while attending university, and graduated from the University of Rhode Island, where she studied Spanish, Sociology, and Political Science, as well as Quinnipiac University School of Law, after first attending Bridgeport Law. Following law school she clerked for Justice Michael A. Diamond of the Family Division of the Superior Court in Passaic County.

Legal career

As a lawyer, Ziegler worked for Walder, Hayden & Brogan during the mid-2000s, where among other cases she was the attorney for the divorce of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Michael Strahan. Ziegler is now a founding partner and attorney with the firm Ziegler and Zemsky, a law firm specializing in marital law. She is also an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School, where she teaches about prenuptial agreements and same-sex marriage. Ziegler is barred in New York, New Jersey, and Washington D.C. She was also appointed to the Supreme Court of New Jersey to the District XI Ethics Committee for Passaic County.

Television

Early in her career she appeared as a commentator on E!, MSNBC, CNN, Fox Business Network, and Fox News during discussions of celebrity divorce cases. She has also appeared on daytime television shows such as ''Dr. Drew'' and ''The Wendy Williams Show'', as well as the ''30 for 30'' film "Broke" on ESPN. In 2014 she began hosting the Bravo reality television show ''Untying the Knot''. The six half-hour episodes track Ziegler handling divorce cases, and includes her consultations with appraisal experts Mark and Michael Millea when items require auctioning. The series was renewed in November 2014, and expanded to a full hour format for the second season.

Writings

In 2008, she began work on a guide for divorce entitled ''The All Star Divorce''. She then published the book ''The Pre-marital Planner: A Complete Legal Guide to a Perfect Marriage'' in 2012, which includes the discussion of how to approach a prenuptial agreement as a couple before marriage. ''The All Star Divorce'' is slated to be her second non-fiction book.

Other businesses

Ziegler is the founded of DivorceDating.com, a match-making website for divorcees, and a celebrity gossip website HookupsAndBreakups.com. Both were developed as a part of an effort to life "the stigma of divorce". She is also the creator of the "Lavish by Vikki Ziegler" brand of hair perfume.

Recognition

Ziegler was named one of the 40 lawyers under 40 by the ''New Jersey Law Journal'' in 2006. In 2016 she received the Outstanding Podcast award at the 41st Annual Gracie Award.

References

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Living people
Television personalities from New York City
American women television personalities
Fordham University faculty
Quinnipiac University alumni
University of Rhode Island alumni
New Jersey lawyers
Businesspeople from New York City
American women lawyers
New York (state) lawyers
People from Little Falls, New Jersey
People from Wayne, New Jersey
Wayne Hills High School alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
American women academics
21st-century American women