It seems my attorney thinks I don't trust her judgement.

isn't it the other way around? You don't trust your lawyer's judgment or apparent lack of knowledge on basic tax issues when going through a divorce. Have you asked your lawyer these questions; how long have you been in practice? How many divorce cases have you handled? How many divorce trials have you had? Have you handled cases similar mine in the past? Have you dealt with the division of retirement benefits  in a divorce before and if so, how many times? Have you attended continuing legal education classes that deals specifically in divorce law and/or taxation issues? Do you handle  other cases in different areas of the law or only family law cases? The long and short of it is that you apparently hired a lawyer who appears to be arguably inexperienced as a divorce lawyer and lacks apparently, even basic understanding of the tax discount necessary on retirement benefits. I don't know all the facts and haven't heard your lawyer's side of the story; but based on what you have posted, I would have concerns whether this lawyer is the right one for you and if you feel comfortable with her, and want to have her continue representing you, she should certainly remove from your bill any charges that relate  with her own education or gathering information in how retirement benefits get taxed in a divorce.