Lewis Heisman

Lewis Heisman

Partner, Heisman Nunes& Hull LLP

Years in current role:3

What do you enjoy most about practicing family law?

Family law demands knowledge and attention to a variety of subject matters, including child custody and residency, the determination of sources of income for the calculation of child support and spousal maintenance, the identification and division of marital assets and the distinction of separate assets not subject to division between the parties, the valuation of a spouse’s business interests, the parties’ respective responsibility for debt, who will be obligated to maintain health insurance, and the necessity of life insurance. No one case is the same as another. Each case has its own human interest story and requires the practitioner’s concentrated efforts. This area of legal practice never could be described as mundane or boring.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve dealt with over the past year?

Of course, the COVID Pandemic has brought a significant challenge to my practice as a divorce litigator. At first, the courts allowed proceedings to be conducted with judges, attorneys, parties, and staff being masked. Wearing a mask was uncomfortable, and it presented a difficulty to hear what was spoken. Then, virtual applications and phone calls took the place of in-person client meetings, attorney negotiations, and, most dramatically, court proceedings. It has been far different to present an argument, and particularly to try a case, through the screen of a laptop. After years of live courtroom proceedings, it was unnerving to be limited to the submission of evidentiary materials and the examination of witnesses through a virtual software program.

What community organizations do you support as a volunteer and why?

My role as a Past President and Board Member of the Seneca Waterways Council of the Boy Scouts of America has allowed me to participate in an organization that gave me so much as a boy — leadership training, practical skills, and a love of the outdoors. There’s nothing more rewarding than to serve on an Eagle Scout Board of Review where one will meet a young woman or man and learn all that she or he has accomplished to attain the rank of Eagle. I have been a member of the Fairport Rotary Club for nearly 40 years. We Rotarians make a plan and execute it in a hands-on manner to benefit the Fairport community, our nation, and the world. We practice “Service Above Self” by cleaning the roads, sponsoring Challenger Little League, and devoting time and treasure to the Malawi Water Project.