A man locked in bitter divorce proceedings with a tobacco heiress was caught bugging his wife’s phone and listening in to her conversations with her attorney, an infraction that a Brooklyn judge said should cost him any claim on the family’s wealth.

And while the incident occurred in the often bare-knuckle world of matrimonial law, Raoul Felder, who represents Anne Resnik, the daughter of a Philip Morris CEO, said the case should serve as a cautionary tale to attorneys in every practice area, from bankruptcy to criminal, when speaking with their clients on the phone: The opposing party could be listening.