NANCY G. SLUTSKY VS. KENNETH J. SLUTSKY A-5829-13T1

NANCY G. SLUTSKY VS. KENNETH J. SLUTSKY
          A-5829-13T1/A-2813-14T1(CONSOLIDATED)

Among the issues discussed in these appeals from a final judgment of divorce, are two of note. First, the court reversed the trial judge's conclusion fixing the value of defendant's interest in his law firm as including goodwill, because the trial judge's limited findings were unsupported and failed to properly analyze the methodology set forth in Dugan v. Dugan, 92 N.J. 423 (1983), and Stern v. Stern, 66 N.J. 340 (1975). The court highlighted the starting point of the analysis must be review of a shareholder's agreement fixing the interest of an equity partner to discern whether it properly captured goodwill. Second, the court reversed a fee award to the payee because it failed to account for the ordered financial obligations imposed upon the payor by the final judgment, and because following fee arbitration, the stipulated fees now due to counsel were less than the sum the payee was ordered to contribute.