Agree with all of that. Courts, but courts of both law and equity, especially, are inexact, and people at every end of the deal sometimes get a raw one. But not taking into account theoretical earning ability* makes the system ripe for exploitation (again, on either of the pre-divorce higher and lower-earning sides of the equation). I've seen a woman given 2 years of alimony to go get a job (immediately precipitating event prior to divorce was him bedding his secretary, but there were deeper and more longer-term issues), as she had a BA but had spent idk 12 or 15 years of marriage as a homemaker. And that seems fair. Her husband was ordered to pay $1k/month child support with a 60-40ish parenting time split and his his historical salary in the low sixes (peak/at divorce around $300k, but mostly mid- ones). He did not do that for too long, as he was heading down an unrelated spiral. She ended up doing OK and started a career in her early 40s, kids continued in their private school on work study/ reduced tuition and got raised and went to college, blah blah. (So I'm saying that even putting aside that he stopped paying child support after a bit, the 2 years for her to go and get employable seemed reasonable.)
* if someone is literally no longer able to be employed in their profession, then the calculation/ imputation should of course factor that in. Whatever the reasons, if you're no longer able to be a surgeon, you shouldn't be imputed a typical surgeon's salary, or what you earned at peak earning power. Likewise, a barred person with 10 years' experience in firms but working for the last 10 as membership director for a non-profit and who has kids 100% of the time post-divorce shouldn't be imputed a biglaw partner salary. But some people get pretty strategic about what work they will/ won't do in the wake of a nasty divorce. And on that note, the burnout (or indifference) in that area doesn't surprise me. Divorce is exceptionally hard to do gracefully, and it has a way of making everyone miserable (in both senses). Being around miserable people day-in and day-out, while also having to do the actual contentious job, has to be wearing. Often a person either fights over every petty unimportant thing, or just rolls over and gets fucked; either way can put people at their lowest, dumbest, and most demanding of everyone, including their lawyer.