American lawyer
James Joseph Sexton (born October 2, 1972) is an American attorney focusing his practice exclusively in divorce and family law in the New York metropolitan area. His client base is made of primarily high net worth individuals.
Sexton is the author of two books on preventing divorce and maintaining a happy marriage and a frequent media commentator on divorce-related issues.[1]
Early life and education
James Joseph Sexton was born October 2nd, 1972, in New Bedford, Massachusetts to Mary and Noah Sexton. He was raised Catholic and his ancestry includes German, English, and Irish.
At age 18 he enrolled at Ramapo College to study psychology wherein he met his first wife. Sexton graduated from Ramapo College of New Jersey and received his Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in East Asian Studies. He subsequently graduated from New York University with a Master of Arts degree from the Department of Culture and Communication where he studied under Dr. Neil Postman, who acknowledged Sexton as a research assistant in Postman’s last book (“The End of Education”).[2] After completing his M.A. and teaching undergraduate classes[3] at New York University while working on his PhD – Sexton decided to attend law school and, in 2001, graduated from Fordham University School of Law where he obtained his Juris Doctorate.[4]
Career
In 2001, less than one year after his admission to the New York State Bar, Sexton opened Law Offices of James J. Sexton, PC where he has remained Managing Partner for over two decades.[5][6][7]
Sexton has handled a number of high net worth and ultra high net worth dissolutions, including those for Adam Sender (Hedge Fund Manager), Kevin Clancy[8] ("KFC" from Barstool Sports[1]), Dean Billings (owner of one of the largest pest control businesses in NYC),[9] Peter Artemiev (Julia Fox's co-parent),[10] Anthony Luftman (NHL Sportscaster), and many more.
Personal Life
Sexton was married for 12 years. He met his wife at the age of 17, got married at the age of 22, and had his first child at the age of 24. He is divorced and has two adult sons, one of whom is also an attorney. His ex-wife, who has been re-married for over 10 years, remains one of his dearest friends. Sexton divides his time between his residences in Manhattan (West Chelsea) and the Catskill Region. Sexton is an avid practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and longtime student of Marcelo Garcia, having trained in mixed martial arts since he was 7 years old. Sexton is also a yoga enthusiast. Sexton’s sister, Laurie Forest, is a dentist and fantasy author[11][12][13][14] who lives in Vermont. His parents were married for 53 years until his mother passed away after a long battle with cancer.[15]
Awards and honors
Sexton is a frequent commentator on Huffpost (57 articles),[16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Psychology Today,[23][24][25][26] Access Hollywood (NBC)[27][28] since 2019. He had a recurring segment “How To Stay In Love” on the Steve Harvey Show[29][30][31] from 2019-2021. Sexton has been quoted as a legal expert on divorce issues by Time Magazine,[32][33] Newsweek,[34] New York Post,[35] Glamour,[36] The Rachel Ray Show,[37] The New York Times,[38] The Seattle Times,[39] Business Insider,[40] Associated Press, Elle, HLN, Good Morning America and a variety of Podcasts including the Lex Fridman Podcast,[41] School of Greatness with Lewis Howes,[42][43] Goop,[44] NPR[45] and LifeHacker.[46][47] In 2023 an interview of Sexton by Mark Liata on Soft White Underbelly[48] received widespread attention and over 3.8M views on YouTube in the first 90 days it was featured.[49]
