Most divorce lawyers are competent at divorce. Far fewer are competent at business-owner divorce. Custody schedules and house equity are their daily bread. A closely held company is not. Your company is probably the largest asset in the case, the hardest to value, and the easiest to wreck through bad lawyering.
You find out which kind of lawyer you are talking to in one consultation, if you ask the right questions. Here are the twelve I would ask. For each one, I will tell you what a good answer sounds like and what should end the meeting.
1. How many cases involving a closely held business have you taken through settlement or trial in the last three years?
Numbers, not vibes. Many is not a number. A good answer sounds like "eleven, eight settled, three tried, mostly service businesses in the two to ten million range." A disqualifying answer is "quite a few" or a story about one big case from 2014. If they cannot count their owner cases, they do not have owner cases.
2. How does our state treat personal versus enterprise goodwill in valuing a business?
This single doctrine can decide half the fight. In many states, goodwill tied to you personally is not divisible property. Goodwill tied to the enterprise is. A good answer names your state’s rule, cites how local judges apply it, and tells you which side of the line your business likely sits on. If they cannot answer fluently for your state, the interview is over.
3. Which forensic accountants and valuation experts do you work with, and how often?
You want names, not a promise to "find someone." A good answer is two or three specific experts, what each is good at, and which local judges find them credible. A disqualifying answer is "we usually use whoever the other side proposes" or a blank look. The expert fight is the case. Your lawyer should already have a bench.
4. What will a contested valuation actually cost me, and how do you structure fees for it?
A good answer gives ranges with components. Expert retainer, deposition costs, rebuttal report, trial testimony. It also covers whether they bill valuation work separately and what triggers cost escalation. A disqualifying answer is "hard to say, every case is different." Every case is different. Competent lawyers still quote ranges.
5. What percentage of your owner cases settle versus go to trial?
There is no perfect number, but there is a perfect kind of answer. It sounds like "about eighty percent settle, and here is why the other twenty percent did not." You want someone who settles from strength and can try a case when settlement fails. Beware two extremes. The lawyer who has never tried a valuation case, and the lawyer who brags about trying everything. Both cost you.
6. How do you handle temporary support orders when my income runs through the business?
Temporary orders get set early, on thin information, and they anchor everything after. A good answer explains how they present true cash flow versus tax-return income, how they handle retained earnings and distributions, and how they fight a support number the business cannot actually pay. A disqualifying answer treats your K-1 like a W-2.
7. How will you protect my business records, customer lists, and financials during discovery?
Discovery in an owner case means your books go to the other side. A good answer covers protective orders as standard practice, attorneys-eyes-only designations for sensitive material, and limits on what the spouse’s expert can copy. A disqualifying answer is "we just produce what they ask for." Your competitors would love that file.
8. Who actually works my case day to day?
The person selling you may not be the person representing you. A good answer names the associate, the paralegal, and what each handles, plus the partner’s actual involvement at hearings and settlement conferences. A disqualifying answer dodges or oversells. "I handle everything personally" from a lawyer with two hundred open files is not true.
9. How often will I hear from you, and how?
Set the cadence now, not during your first panic. A good answer is specific. "Email response within one business day, a scheduled call every two weeks, immediate contact when anything is filed." A disqualifying answer is "call anytime," which in practice means "reach my voicemail anytime." Vague availability at the sales stage becomes silence at month four.
10. What is your strategy on the valuation date?
The date the business gets valued can swing the number by a fortune, especially if revenue moved during separation. A good answer explains what dates your state allows, which date favors you on current facts, and how they argue for it. A disqualifying answer is not knowing your state has options. If they have never fought over a valuation date, they have never fought over a valuation.
11. What do clients like me get wrong?
This is the question that shows you their scar tissue. A good answer is immediate and specific. Owners who move money and create a fraud narrative. Owners who talk to the spouse about the business without counsel. Owners who let the company’s performance tank out of spite and cut their own settlement value in half. A disqualifying answer is generic. "They get emotional." Everyone gets emotional. You want the owner-specific failure list.
12. If I consult with you today, is your firm conflicted out of representing my spouse?
The answer should be yes, and they should explain how consultations create conflicts under your state’s rules. Then act on what that answer implies. Once a lawyer has consulted with you, they are generally conflicted out of representing your spouse. Interview the two or three strongest business-divorce lawyers in your market now, even if you hope to settle amicably. You learn how each thinks, and your spouse cannot hire the ones you saw first. That is not a trick. That is diligence with a side effect.
The close
Print these twelve questions. Book consultations with your top three candidates this week, not after papers get filed. Take notes on every answer. The lawyer who answers all twelve fluently exists in your market. Your job is to find them before your spouse does.
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S.C.
General educational information only. Not legal, tax, or financial advice. Not a substitute for an attorney or CPA licensed in your state.