James P. Dugan, Plaintiff-Appellant v. Rosaleen M. Dugan, Defendant-Respondent

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that goodwill in a sole‑practitioner attorney's law practice is property subject to equitable distribution in divorce and that the trial court's method of valuing that goodwill was improper, requiring a new valuation based on excess earnings over a comparable employee norm and a justified capitalization factor. The judgment was reversed and remanded for further proceedings.