In a recent case, the judge found that although the parties had one of the most contentious divorce cases that the judge had ever presided over, nevertheless the wife could be held accountable for part of the decline of the husband's law practice and her actions caused the court to give her 17% of the value.
Both parties were attorneys and the husband was a partner in a major NYC law firm. The wife did not practice law but was an attorney. Between the two of them there were over 60 motions filed during the case, multiple evaluations, custody litigation, financial asset value and distribution litigation.
The husband was a rainmaker at his law firm and the firm suffered financial set backs as a result of changes in the economy. The wife went on a campaign to portray the husband negatively and there were newspaper articles written and other damage to his or his firm's reputation. The court had repeatedly cautioned the parties about their behavior. In deciding the case, the wife got less of the husband's law practice value in part because of the damage to his reputation caused by the wife.
I often tell clients do not kill the goose that lays the golden egg. If you litigate with such animosity and try to scorch the earth and ruin everything, there will be consequences. If a spouse loses their employment there will be less child support; if the house goes into foreclosure there will be less money, if any, for the clients. Be careful what you seek because the results can be devastating.