Jamie McCourt earned a large victory in her divorce case on Tuesday when Judge Scott Gordon ruled that the marital property agreement signed by her and husband Frank in 2004 is invalid so until any appeals or future rulings take place, Jamie is no longer shut out of any ownership claim to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The couple’s divorce has been nasty from the beginning with allegations of wrong doing on the part of Frank and marital infidelity on the part of Jamie. Frank actually evicted Jamie from her stadium office after he fired her from her executive position.

The whole time, in the middle of this fight sat the power and money grab for the Dodgers, the largest asset belonging to the couple.

Judge Gordon’s ruling, as reported in the L.A. Times read:

“The court finds that the marital property agreement is not a valid and enforceable agreement,” Gordon wrote in his ruling. “The court orders that the marital property agreement is set aside.”

During her case, Jamie McCourt said she was entitled to co-ownership of the team and that was bolstered after the testimony of the couple’s former attorney in Massachusetts. The attorney drafted a property agreement while the Dodgers purchase was grinding through its final stage and that, according to his testimony in the divorce trial, was supposed to give Frank control of all the business assets.

Jamie reportedly wanted to separate the couple’s real estate holdings in fear that business creditors might attach their homes in an attempt to get at their assets. The attorney botched the most important schedule to the agreement that set forth what was supposed to state the sole assets of Frank McCourt.  The couple signed documents that were incorrect in part and unbeknownst to them, a revised attachment was inserted into copies of the agreement.

Only last month Jamie refused to accept a proposal by a court-ordered mediator to settle the dispute. Now we know why. In the end, the judge agreed with David Boies, lead counsel for Jamie, that the intent of the couple was unable to be determined with the dueling versions of the contract.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Frank McCourt and Jamie McCourt continue to see their divorce details make it onto the front page and while the news has revealed loads of gossip, how they live and how they financed their lifestyle. The latest discovery trumps them all.

It’s been discovered that the Dodgers pay rent to…the Dodgers for use of Dodger Stadium, to the tune of $14 million for 2010.

Unusual?

Remember, the McCourts own the Dodgers, the stadium and the land it sits on. For those not familiar with a typical lease arrangement for a baseball team, the Dodgers’ rental payments are 7 to 10 times more than the next most expensive rent in the rest of MLB baseball.

The Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners and Milwaukee Brewers were listed in a Los Angeles Times article on the subject and according to the newspaper, not one of those teams pays more than $1.2 million to their municipal landlords.

The Dodgers’ neighbors to the south, the Anaheim Angels don’t pay rent for their field but kick in a percentage of revenue from parking and ticket sales to the city. That is estimated to amount to $2 million in the previous two seasons.

That said, here’s the kicker and juicier piece to this story. There is no other team expense listed in the financial documents submitted to the court that surpasses the stated rent. There are figures being thrown around about $24 million having been taken off the top of team revenues for the rental costs.

According to the court filings, the pool of rental money hasn’t been tapped by the team to better itself. As we know, the McCourts have reduced their total payroll by almost as much as the rental fund. On Opening Day 2008, the costs for the Dodgers roster was $23 million more than in 2010.

David Boies who represents Jamie McCourt wants you to know he’s on the side of the fans who are demanding for the team to open its wallet and get some pitching. “It’s a way of taking money out of the Dodgers and putting it into a place they can access it,” Boies said.

Boies has been in the news a lot lately. He was on the legal team that argued the winning side in the California Proposition 8 court challenge.

Whether anything more is learned about the $24,000,000 sitting out there on a financial ledger remains to be seen. Many analysts question whether the trial will happen at all in light of embarrassing and nasty details that may come to light.

In the meantime, the Dodgers’ hitting has taken a break since All-Star weekend and on the nights they get some timely knocks, the pitching goes south.

Who’s got the popcorn concession if this trial does make it to court? Anyone?

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC