Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What happens when a person’s income is not guaranteed and fluctuates from year to year?”
An extraordinarily high-priced Manhattan divorce lawyer just lost an important case that legal experts say could result in big changes in how high-profile divorces are handled in the future. The attorney, Robert Cohen, has represented big time movie stars like Uma Thurman and James Gandolfini as well as big time Wall Street execs and their wives. The recent case involves the latter, the wife of a wealthy hedge fund executive.
In the case, Amanda Sykes, the unemployed wife of hedge fund founder George Sykes, has been the main force behind a bitter dispute that has already cost George a small fortune. In New York family law cases the wealthy party foots the divorce bill for both sides, an unofficial but common practice. However, George balked after receiving his wife’s legal bills and demanded that something be done.
In response, George’s attorney brought a complaint before a Manhattan family law court, saying that Amanda should be forced to pay her legal bills out of her own money. George’s attorney noted that Amanda had racked up an astounding $700,000 in legal fees in the first two months of the case alone and has since spent more than $1 million in attorney’s fees. George argued the case was a feeding frenzy for attorneys and that he should not have to foot the bill for his wife’s reckless legal spending.
The Manhattan judge ultimately agreed with George, saying that Amanda should be forced to pay her own bills if she is intent on engaging in such costly litigation. As George’s attorney successfully argued, his client has every incentive to curtail litigation as much as possible, even if that means accepting a higher settlement than he may think is fair. Amanda, on the other hand, has no skin in the game and thus has no incentive to settle the case given that she is not bearing any financial burden.