The divorce attorney in a high asset value divorce is often like a band leader.  He has to select the type of musicians and direct them on how their instruments should be played.  Obviously, there is a need to select expert witnesses who are competent, but it is the role of the attorney to guide and assist the expert in understanding their role in your divorce. 

Having an expert render opinions on complex issues in determining the value of separate property, or profits on that separate property, is useless unless the attorney gives the expert the law which needs to be examined.  The attorney then needs to work with the expert to formulate the best possible presentation of the facts and the expert’s opinion. 

The attorney will assist the expert in obtaining the information, analyzing it, supply the law which the expert must use, and then work with the expert to obtain that opinion.  The attorney must also have extensive business, real estate and financial knowledge to examine any opinions of the other side’s expert. 

Often times, the parties will use a “joint” expert to act as a neutral to determine the value of an asset.  Another possible issue is that with high-value assets, no two appraisers will ever arrive at the same value.  Therefore, use of a neutral appraisal should be carefully examined.  Many times, it is better to have one party do their own appraisal and then have the other party retain the services of a “review appraiser” to examine the opinion of value.  By doing so, any errors in the original appraisal will be disclosed.

Take Away: If your attorney has experience in business, real estate, patent law and finance, they will be able to give any experts exactly what they need to render the opinion most in your favor.