Major League Baseball

McCourt divorce trial opens in L.A.

Published Aug. 30, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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A divorce battle that could determine who owns the Los Angeles Dodgers began Monday with attorneys for ex-team CEO Jamie McCourt arguing she was deceived about a marital agreement by her estranged husband, Frank McCourt.

His lawyers countered by portraying Jamie McCourt as a savvy businesswoman who pushed for the arrangement six years ago but didn't know what she actually signed.

Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon will decide if the postnuptial agreement is valid.

Frank McCourt believes the pact gives him sole ownership of the storied franchise. Jamie McCourt contends the agreement should be thrown out and those assets should be split evenly under California's community property law.

An estate-planning attorney testified that Frank McCourt told her last summer he would not sign a revised agreement that would share the Dodgers with his wife.

Leah Bishop told Gordon that she spent months drafting a new version of the postnuptial agreement that gave McCourt sole possession of the team and a half-dozen luxurious homes to his now-estranged wife.

Bishop began revising the agreement after the McCourts in 2008 directed her to submit new language that would make the team, the stadium and the surrounding land jointly owned by the couple.

The McCourts, who were married for nearly 30 years, were each flanked by a cadre of high-priced attorneys as they entered court. The one-time couple appeared to glance at each other but showed no acknowledgment.

Frank McCourt, wearing a black suit with a blue tie, looked focused and composed. Jamie McCourt, in a formfitting white dress, seemed relaxed as she laughed with her attorneys before the hearing began. Her parents also were in attendance.

The case has been like a soap opera, with allegations of infidelities, deceit and lavish spending aired for the public.

Lawyer Dennis Wasser, who represents Jamie McCourt, claims his client was duped by her husband and a family attorney when the couple signed the postnuptual agreement in March 2004.

Wasser said six copies were shown to the couple in Massachusetts, but only three actually listed the Dodgers, the stadium and surrounding property as Frank McCourt's separate assets.

"We were told, you were told, that the six copies were identical," Wasser said to Gordon. "They are not."

Wasser suggested the family attorney, at some point, switched the three versions that included the Dodgers as Frank McCourt's separate property with three copies that didn't, but Jamie McCourt wasn't told.

Wasser questioned how Gordon might find the agreement valid, given those circumstances.

"The evidence will show no one advised Jamie of the switch," the lawyer said.

Wasser said it was inconceivable to think Jamie McCourt would give up her rights to the Dodgers, especially after she served as the team's CEO. She was fired last year after Frank McCourt accused her of having an affair and not living up to the rigors of the job.

"Jamie would never have given up this interest and didn't. It doesn't make sense," Wasser said.

Meanwhile, Frank McCourt's attorney Steve Susman chalked up the difference in the agreements as a mistake and not a "fraudulent switch-a-roo," as opposing lawyers claim.

Susman repeatedly pointed out that Jamie McCourt was a family law attorney herself and was told numerous times before signing the agreement what it entailed.

"I believe that a junior high school student could understand that language," Susman said as both McCourts looked on.

Susman added that Jamie McCourt was the driving force behind the agreement because she didn't want her husband's creditors going after the couple's six luxurious homes that were listed in her name.

"She wanted the contract then, now things have changed," Susman said. "She wants her signature erased."

Susman also portrayed Jamie McCourt as a wife who didn't believe her husband could run a sports franchise and thought he would lose the fortune he had made in real estate. He said Frank McCourt was willing to take a tremendous amount of risk in buying the Dodgers.

Earlier in the hearing, Gordon granted a motion by Jamie McCourt's attorneys to have all six copies of the postnuptual agreement entered into evidence. In trying to explain California family law to the attorneys, Gordon used colors to represent the parties he was talking about.

"I'm going to avoid the use of blue in this trial," Gordon joked, a reference to the team colors of the Dodgers.

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