New York Divorce Lawyer & Attorney : Law Office of David A. Gabay : Serving New York City, Long Island, Suffolk County, Nassau County

An article by Alex Ginsberg in yesterday’s New York Post reported that disgraced former New York state matrimonial judge Gerald Garson’s stay of his sentence pending appeal was based on the fact that he is an alcoholic. His condition is reportedly so severe he will require medically supervised detoxification before going to prison.

Garson’s claim raises a number of interesting questions. Some of them are: How does a practicing matrimonial attorney deal with the cynicism which may be engendered by this new development? Can Garson’s rulings be challenged by a litigant who now claims his or her case was adversely affected by Garson’s alcoholism?   What if anything did Garson’s superiors know about his condition? How does the Office of Court Administration deal with a problem like this?  

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Disgraced former New York state matrimonial judge Gerald Garson was sentenced yesterday to 3-10 years in state prison, following his conviction for accepting favors, cash, and other goods from a lawyer practicing in his Court.  The sentence was stayed pending appeal.

The Garson case was reported upon extensively in the New York press, and he was made out to be the poster child for everything the public sees as wrong about the way matrimonial cases are handled in the Court system: callous and insensitive judges, special access for favored attorneys, decisions made without any regard for the facts of the case and the available evidence, and buying influence with a judge. 

In my practice, I spend a good deal of time explaining to my current and potential clients over and over again that the judges I appear before are for the most part decent men and women trying to do what they think is the right thing and that they are not corrupt or being inappropriately influenced by their spouse’s evil and manipulative attorney. 

I try very hard to defend the system that I work in and the people I work with because I really believe that most of the time most of the people in it are trying to do the right thing, whatever that might mean for them. Now, when a client points to the Garson case as proof positive that the Court or my adversary is corrupt or dishonest, my argument becomes a little harder to make.  

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The valuation and distribution of the personal professional goodwill of a single owner service business or practice is a highly contentious issue. Personal professional goodwill is the portion of a business’ professional goodwill attributable to the presence or reputation of the owner or other key person. For example, suppose a medical practice has a goodwill value of $5 million, but that the doctor who owns the practice is a nationally recognized expert in his field. If the doctor left the practice, half of the patients of the practice would follow him to his new practice. In such a case, the personal professional goodwill attributable to the doctor is $2.5 million.

Although New York certainly allows for the valuation and distribution of this asset, the Courts have not adopted or required any particular valuation method. Therefore, the quality, credibility, and effectiveness of the appraiser, and the expertise and preparation of the attorney will be among the most critical determining factors in successfully presenting or defending a valuation of personal professional goodwill.

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