Interesting Results
We are listing a few of the results that we have obtained for some of clients. These results are not guaranteed. These cases should give a representative sample of the type of cases we handle.
In a divorce action involving the enforcement of a prenuptial agreement we represented the wife of a major league baseball player. The husband was represented by Ann Oldfather and Vickie Buba of the Oldfather Law Firm. The husband argued that the Court should enforce the parties' prenuptial agreement which would have left the wife with almost nothing after an eight-year marriage and four children. After an extensive trial on the issue, the Court found the prenuptial agreement to be unenforceable, thus allowing the wife an equitable share of the multi-million-dollar estate.
In 2021, the firm established new law on the division and classification of restricted stock units which are akin to stock options after winning a unanimous decision in the Kentucky Supreme Court after we had lost the issue in the trial court and the Kentucky Court of Appeals. This decision also established new law which requires a trial court to classify compensation received from RSUs/stock options as income for child support purposes. It took the firm five years to fix the erroneous decision from the trial court.
From 2018 to 2020 the firm won five different cases in a row in the Kentucky Court of Appeals where we reversed or vacated an opinion from the trial court. First, please realize that not only did we win five cases in a row, but we reversed or vacated a decision from the trial court. This was a highly unusual winning steak. In one of these cases the trial court issued a domestic violence order against our client, a former professional athlete, without giving him notice of the hearing or the opportunity to present a defense. The reversal of this decision changed our client’s life because the incorrect finding that he had committed an act of domestic violence forced a change in his career.
In this divorce action, we represented the wife of the former Attorney and Director of Corporate Finance at a Fortune 500 company against her husband. At the commencement of the case we obtained a domestic violence order against the husband, who was dealing with a lot of alcohol related problems. During the divorce action, our client, the wife, did not have any idea of the marital estate, and the husband refused to allow discovery. We ultimately had the husband fined $200 a day until he provided us with the necessary documents. The case was settled with the wife receiving over $2,000,000 in assets and the husband having to pay all of the wife's attorney fees.
In a divorce and maintenance case, we represented a husband against a wife who were married for over 25 years in a case that went to trial in Jefferson County. The husband worked at a large Fortune 100 company, and the wife, age 50 at the time of trial, was attending school. The parties agreed to equally divide the majority of their property before trial, while the husband paid the wife $3,500 in temporary maintenance during the case. At the conclusion of the case, the husband was ordered to pay his ex-wife maintenance for 12 more months at $3,000 a month, and then maintenance was reduced to $1,000 a month until the husband, age 50, retired from his job. The wife has appealed and lost.
In this child support case, we represented a physician father against his physician wife in rural Kentucky. Prior to the firm’s entry into the case, the Court had raised the father's obligation to pay child support from $1,000 a month to $5,000 a month. At the trial court level, we argued to the Judge that he did not have jurisdiction to raise child support since the mother had not filed a motion to increase child support. The trial court ruled against our client and refused to lower the father's child support. Once we received this unfavorable ruling, we appealed to the Court of Appeals, and the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and lowered the firm’s client's child support obligation back to $1,000 a month, holding that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to modify child support without the filing of a motion. The mother sought discretionary review in the Kentucky Supreme Court which was denied.
In a divorce and maintenance case involving a long-term marriage with one adult child, we represented the wife of a prominent physician. The husband refused to cooperate in the case, and disobeyed numerous court orders. After four failed mediations the case was finally litigated and our client the wife received almost 70% of the net assets and $4,000 a month in maintenance until further order of the court.