The judge is the divider, not the identifier or valuer

Speaking at this morning's BVR Divorce Summit, Judge Thomas Zampino gave some excellent advice for matrimonial lawyers.  "I'm not going to go out and find all the assets that are hidden under the bed.   And, I'm not going to determine what they're worth.   You don't want me doing that.  But, my job is to narrow the field of answers, and then divide the assets as best I can."

Because of that, the Judge is antagonistic toward "partisan" experts (he's written on this subject and one article of his is included in the Divorce Summit materials).  "If I can't get you to narrow the range of values with the other side to make it easier for me to divide the assets, I don't see you as an objective expert," Zampino says.