South Florida's
Best Lawyers 2026

Abigail M. Cohen is a Senior Associate at Gladstone, Weissman, Hirschberg & Schneider, P.A. She is Board Certified in Marital and Family Law by the Florida Bar and a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Ms. Cohen earned her J.D. (magna cum laude) from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she was ranked 7 out of 238 in her graduating class. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Florida. Since her admission to the Florid...

David L. Hirschberg is a Principal/Shareholder at Gladstone, Weissman, Hirschberg & Schneider, P.A. He is a graduate of the University of Florida Levin College of Law, cum laude (J.D., 2003) and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida, with honors (B.A., 2000). Mr. Hirschberg is Florida Bar Board Certified in Marital and Family Law, a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers, and is AV Preeminen...

Denise L. Schneider , Principal/Shareholder, is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Marital and Family Law and a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Ms. Schneider earned her J.D. (magna cum laude) as well as her Bachelor of Science from Nova Southeastern University. Prior to joining the firm in 2007, Ms. Schneider worked in several Fort Lauderdale area boutique marital and family law practices. Following her admittance to The Florida Bar in 2002, Ms. Schneider has strictl...

JOSHUA L. PLAGER is a Senior Associate of the law firm of Gladstone, Weissman, Hirschberg & Schneider, P.A. Josh graduated from the University of Florida with honors in 2006, earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Warrington College of Business. Following undergrad and before law school, Mr. Plager was a Series 7 and Series 66 registered financial advisor at AIG, assisting clients with financial planning and investing, including 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, and I...

Peter L. Gladstone is a Principal of the law firm of Gladstone, Weissman, Hirschberg & Schneider, P.A. He is Board Certified in Marital and Family Law (1999) and a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (2003), having practiced exclusively in this field since 1988. Mr. Gladstone is AV-Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been repeatedly selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America (2005-2025 editions), Florida Trend Legal Elite magazine, Florida Super Lawyers (“To...

Florida attorney, Jay Cohen focuses his practice in Plaintiff Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice. As a senior partner at Cohen, Blostein & Ayala, P.A. , he represents individuals and families who have suffered catastrophic loss due to the negligence of others. His experience and professionalism have earned him membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates, peer recognition from Super Lawyers, Florida’s Legal Elite and The Best Lawyers® in America, and an AV Preeminent...

Andrew Ellenberg helps individuals and families throughout Florida who have suffered devastating injuries or the loss of a loved one due to someone else’s negligence. He focuses on cases involving birth injuries, serious permanent harm, and wrongful death caused by medical errors, hospital and healthcare system failures, car, boat, truck, and air crashes, unsafe premises, and defective products. For more than 30 years, Mr. Ellenberg’s practice has been dedicated exclusively to pur...

Mr. Needle, a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer. Mr. Needle's courtroom victories include multi-million dollar verdicts in cases that have often pushed the outer boundaries of existing legal precedent. For six years he was a member of the Florida Bar's Board of Governors, which sets policy and discipline (under the auspices of the Florida Supreme Court), for all lawyers practicing in the state of Florida. Andrew Needle has been an editorial consultant to Matthew Bender Law Books: Florida Tor...

Stephen focuses on complex litigation and appeals. He has tried cases to verdict in state and federal courts and has argued more than 50 appeals. His practice spans class actions, personal injury, aviation accidents, complex commercial disputes, defamation, professional malpractice, and whistleblower claims. His abilities have been recognized in numerous publications. Benchmark Appellate observed that Stephen “possesses the rare skill set allowing him to excel at both trial and appellat...

Susan J. Hahn’s immigration and nationality law practice was established in 1995 and focuses on international business-related immigration matters for multinational and international corporations worldwide. Ms. Hahn has represented public and private companies, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, universities, medical organizations, airlines, unions, and telecommunication and multimedia entities. Ms. Hahn represents clients in corporate transfers of managers and executives, specialized busi...

Alison K. Douglas is a Principal in Cummings & Lockwood's Private Clients Group and is based in the Naples office. She focuses her practice on estate planning, family business succession planning, charitable planning and estate and trust administration.

David M. Halpen is Principal-in-Charge of the Palm Beach office of Cummings & Lockwood. David has over twenty years of broad-based legal experience in trusts and estates planning, estate settlement, trust administration, business succession planning, and U.S. and international tax planning for a variety of high net worth clients. Prior to joining Cummings & Lockwood, he was a shareholder with Dunwody, White & Landon in their Naples and Palm Beach offices.