After 10 months of bitter 'he said, she said' grievances, shady court documents and questionable ownership practices, the divorce trial of Frank and Jamie McCourt began Monday morning.
The dissolution of the 30-year marriage between Frank and Jamie McCourt will resolve the ownership of the Dodgers, a team they purchased in 2004. Frank served as the Chairman of the company, while Jamie was the CEO.
While all divorce proceedings are difficult to sort through, the case of the McCourt divorce is especially murky. The future of the Dodgers' organization and the divorce victor all comes down to the leverage behind two different copies of a Marital Property Agreement, signed when the couple purchased the Dodgers.
There were two MPAs signed by Frank and Jamie McCourt, one signed in Massachusetts and one in California. The MPA outlined the division of assets between the couple should they divorce. The multiple residences owned by the McCourts were placed in Jamie's name, while the Dodgers' organization, along with any other business endeavors owned by the family, was placed in Frank's name.
Jamie admitted that she indeed signed six copies of the MPA (three for each state). However, she is insisting that after she signed the documents, Frank went back and doctored the California document to add the Dodgers under his name. Jamie claims that she never would have signed the MPAs had she known she was signing away her stake in the ownership of the team.
Jamie also insists she did not know about the alterations to the California MPA until July of 2010, and her team of lawyers have forensic evidence proving Frank went back in and made changes after she has signed the document. Frank is claiming that Jamie knew about the arrangement the entire time, and says it was a "typographical and clerical error" that the California MPA did not originally include the clause about the Dodgers ownership.
The divorce proceedings began back in October, when Jamie filed for divorce after Frank fired her as CEO of the Dodgers. Frank's reasoning behind her termination was that she wasn't able to keep up with the demands of the position. It was also purported that she was having an affair.
Since the divorce announcement, several questionable ownership practices have been revealed about the McCourts. Under their management, Dodger ticket and parking prices have seen significant increases while the player salaries have been stagnant. The duo has been criticized in the past for not pursuing and maintaining top players and they have been accused of using team funds to finance their luxurious lifestyle.
Both Jamie and Frank each have a high-profile team of lawyers backing them up. Jamie has employed David Boies as her frontman, who represented Al Gore in his Supreme Court battle against George W. Bush in 2000. Frank is fronted by Stephen Susman, who has famously represented organizations including Little Caesar's and Clear Channel Communications in anti-trust cases.
Though the McCourt proceedings sound complex, the results can be broken down in the following manner:
If Jamie wins the Dodgers will likely be sold, as they would become community property. She would walk away with hundreds of millions of dollars and the couple's real estate.
If Frank wins the Dodgers will remain in his sole custody and Jamie will receive far less money (likely tens of millions rather than hundreds).
The court proceedings will run for 11 days before a final decision is reached by Judge Scott Brown. The case will run for four days this week, and will resume later in the month. The legal fees are reportedly reaching $20 million to make it the most expensive divorce trial in the history of California.
