McCourt Saga's Latest Twist

Frank McCourt, heavily battered from a divorce trial that invalidated his marital property agreement with his ex-wife, Jamie, has suffered another embarrassment as Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced the league was taking control of "the business and the day-to-day operations" of the Dodgers out of "deep concerns" for the team’s finances. Selig also said that the commissioner’s office would continue its investigation of the team’s finances during the rocky McCourt ownership that has seen the franchise become saddled with debt. The Los Angeles Times article quotes Gary Toebben, the president and CEO of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, as saying this is probably a good thing. Selig plans on appointing a trustee in the next several days.

The trial did not offer a flattering portrayal of McCourt, to say the least. Jamie McCourt's lawyer, Lawdragon 500 member David Boies, said after the trial that the court’s ruling invalidating the property agreement made his client co-owner of the team. That agreement was the work of lawyers at Bingham McCutchen, which sued McCourt in Massachusetts in the hopes of preventing him from filing a malpractice suit against the firm if he lost control of the team. The firm claims: "Any injury, loss or expense he has sustained or will sustain were caused not by Bingham's conduct, but by his own widely publicized financial problems, huge withdrawals of cash from the Dodgers, and strained relations with Major League Baseball."