Merrill E. Steinberg (Retired January 1, 2000). Merrill was a leading domestic relations lawyers in the Bay Area. He was a Certified Specialist in family law since certification by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization began and had considerable experience in litigating dissolution cases and negotiating property settlement agreements in complex dissolution matters. Merrill was a 1949 graduate of the University of California and a 1952 graduate of Hastings College of the Law. Merrill was a past president of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association and of the Northern California Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and was named as one of the best family lawyers in America since the book Best Lawyers in America was first published in 1983.