Divorce now with assets low, lawyer advises men

In the classic wedding vows - the ones with "for richer, for poorer" - there's no mention of the best time to divorce.

But one divorce lawyer is trying to fill the gap. His suggestion: If a man's going to leave his wife anyway, the recession might be the time to do it.

Income, business assets and other holdings are probably way down in value now, attorney Joe Cordell reasons, so the husband will probably feel less pain in splitting them with his spouse.

Cordell, who is advertising heavily with male-oriented talk radio and sports programs, insists he's not encouraging divorce. He's just pushing a pragmatic approach if a breakup looks inevitable.

"It's not a controversial point to make that if a guy's going to be in front of a judge, it's going to be advantageous if it's when his assets are at an ebb, rather than a peak," Cordell said.

Based in St. Louis, Cordell specializes in representing men in divorce cases and custody disputes. He oversees 21 legal offices around the country, including one he set up six months ago in Tampa's West Shore area. He has two attorneys in Tampa.

He voices his own radio ads, noting he's been through divorce himself, and in one of them he suggests now might be the right time.

In a strong economy, Cordell said, men frequently can't believe their assets are valued at such a high level when it comes time to split them.

The converse of that situation may work in their favor.

"If a guy is relatively impoverished, that's going to give him an advantage in his arguing that his wife should take on more of the debt," Cordell said.

Some rival family lawyers in Florida acknowledge the message makes some sense, even if they're not comfortable with the pitch.

Strategizing is common whenever someone goes for a divorce, and the recession may play a part in it, said Chris Ragano, a Tampa family attorney.

But women can strategize, too, said Ragano, chairman of the Hillsborough County Bar Association's family law section. Should a wife file for divorce sooner, rather than later, to prevent her husband's assets from falling further in value?

Scott Rubin, a family lawyer in Miami and past chairman of the Florida Bar's family law section, agreed that a woman can also use slumping net worth to her advantage.

She might have been laid off from a job and argue she needs additional alimony or child support, Rubin said.

Cordell's aggressive ad spin comes at a time when the business of divorce is down.

One theory is that couples feel they can't pursue it now because they need the dual incomes, Rubin said, under the theory that two can live cheaper than one.

In Hillsborough County, there were 5,752 filings for divorce in the 12 months ended June 30. That's down 12 percent from the 12 month period ended June 2008, when 6,560 divorce cases were filed.

Still, Cordell's campaign is stirring up the Bay area's family law business, Ragano said.

Family lawyers usually aren't big advertisers and some local attorneys resent the radio pitches.

The feeling is, "How dare you come into our area and do the blitzkrieg of advertising and corner the market, and you're not even a Florida attorney," Ragano said.

So far no one is saying publicly it violates Florida Bar ethics or advertising rules and the bar has no open investigative files on Cordell, according to a representative.

It's a bold approach, Cordell acknowledges.

"I don't think an ad like mine has ever been done."