using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using System.Collections.Specialized;
class Program
{
static void Main()  {
string s1 = @"max,""emily,kate"",john";
var myRegex = new Regex(@"""[^""]*""|(,)");
string replaced = myRegex.Replace(s1, delegate(Match m) {
    if (m.Groups[1].Value == "") return m.Value;
    else return "SplitHere";
    });
string[] splits = Regex.Split(replaced,"SplitHere");
foreach (string split in splits) Console.WriteLine(split);
Console.WriteLine("\nPress Any Key to Exit.");
Console.ReadKey();
} // END Main
} // END Program