鄧文迪度假 聘請新律師對付默多克大綱

Just over a month after Rupert Murdoch surprised his wife of 14 years with divorce papers, Wendi Murdoch has switched lawyers, a move signaling that the separation could take an acrimonious turn.

Mrs. Murdoch has hired William D. Zabel, a well-known New York trusts and estates lawyer who has represented several women in their divorces from wealthy businessmen, including Jane Beasley Welch during her contentious split from John F. Welch, the former chief executive of General Electric.

A spokesman for Mrs. Murdoch, Christopher Giglio, confirmed the hiring of Mr. Zabel, but otherwise declined to comment.

Mrs. Murdoch had been represented by Pamela M. Sloan, who advised Mrs. Murdoch on her prenuptial agreement with Mr. Murdoch in 1999, when the couple married in front of 82 guests on board his 155-foot sailing yacht, the Morning Glory.

But since then, Ms. Sloan had become friendly with the Murdochs, and Mrs. Murdoch decided that she wanted more independent counsel, said a person with direct knowledge of the case who like many people declined to be identified discussing personal matters.

Ms. Sloan did not return a request for comment.

Although the Murdochs signed a prenuptial agreement and two postnuptial agreements delineating the separation of assets in the event of a divorce, there are a number of areas that remain up for negotiation, said people with knowledge of the case who spoke only on the condition of anonymity.

For one, there are the custody arrangements and child support for their daughters, Grace, 11, and Chloe, 9, these people said. Because they are not binding on the court, custody arrangements and child support are rarely part of prenuptial agreements, and are often used by the less-moneyed spouse as leverage in negotiations.

Other issues that could be contended include the division of certain assets, like their Fifth Avenue penthouse and the yacht, on which Mrs. Murdoch, 44, and her daughters are currently vacationing in the Caribbean.

There is also the contentious issue surrounding the Murdoch family trust. Mr. Murdoch surprised his wife in 2006 when he announced during a television interview with Charlie Rose that Grace and Chloe would have the same economic interest in the family’s trust but not the same voting rights as his four children from his previous two marriages.

The slip almost created a separation, and prompted Mrs. Murdoch to negotiate more favorable terms for her daughters, according to people close to the couple.

Mr. Zabel, an expert in trust law, is expected to examine the soundness of the trust structure.

“Even with the most sophisticated couple, unless you have perfect 20/20 foresight often some issues can arise that weren’t taken into consideration and are prime for negotiation,” said Paul M. Talbert, a divorce lawyer at Donohoe Talbert in New York, who is not involved in the Murdoch case.

Representing Mr. Murdoch, 82, in the divorce proceeding is Ira E. Garr of the law firm Garr Silpe. But Mr. Murdoch is also relying heavily on the advice of Gerson A. Zweifach, the general counsel of both News Corporation and 21st Century Fox, as the newly separated companies are now known. Mr. Murdoch’s 1998 divorce from his second wife, Anna, cost more than $110 million in cash.

A company spokeswoman has said the divorce will have no effect on either company.

Shortly after a visit to the couple’s Northern California home in June, Mrs. Murdoch returned to New York to learn that Mr. Murdoch had served her with divorce papers, according to several people close to the couple who would not discuss their private matters for attribution.

Mrs. Murdoch, after interviewing about eight different lawyers, including leading members of the matrimonial bar like Robert Stephan Cohen and Peter E. Bronstein, chose Mr. Zabel. Initially, Mrs. Murdoch did not have time to screen potential divorce lawyers and turned to Ms. Sloan, a trusted confidante, by default.

The core of Mr. Zabel’s practice at the law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel is advising wealthy clients like George Soros and the Lehman family, drafting their wills and trusts and advising on estate planning. But he also handles messier matters for his clients; in 2010, for instance, he represented the estate of his longtime client, the Palm Beach philanthropist and investor Jeffry M. Picower, in a $7.2 billion settlement with the federal government over claims related to money that he received from Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

There is also the occasional divorce assignment. Much of the time, Mr. Zabel will play the role of mediator, and has peaceably settled the divorces of the late author Michael Crichton, the radio host Howard Stern and the New York Jets owner Robert Wood Johnson IV.

But at times, he has been involved in nasty marital spats, like that of Ms. Welch, whose marriage collapsed after she discovered her husband’s dalliance with the journalist Suzy Wetlaufer. The divorce was fiercely litigated and settled on the courthouse steps in 2002 only after Mr. Welch agreed to pay Ms. Welch several hundred million dollars.

More recently, he represented Christina Lurie, the former wife of the Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, who divorced after 20 years of marriage. Ms. Lurie remained a part owner of the team.

Because he keeps divorce representations to a minimum, Mr. Zabel often refers cases to his former wife, Eleanor B. Alter, herself a prominent matrimonial lawyer in New York.據《紐約時報》日前報道，一個月前，傳媒大亨魯珀特•默多克突然向與他結婚14年的妻子鄧文迪提出離婚。鄧文迪則於近日更換律師，這意味着兩人離婚可能進入針鋒相對的階段。

鄧文迪聘請威廉•扎貝爾爲新的法律顧問。扎貝爾是紐約知名不動產律師，曾代理過多個富豪離婚案件，其中包括通用電氣首席執行官約翰•F•韋爾奇和前妻簡•比絲麗•韋爾奇與之間那場激烈的離婚訴訟。

鄧文迪的發言人克里斯多夫• 吉里奧確定鄧已經聘請了扎貝爾，但拒絕發表更多評論。

此前鄧文迪的律師是帕梅拉•M•斯隆，她曾於1999年爲鄧文迪和默多克的婚前協議未鄧文迪提出建議。不久，在默多克的豪華遊艇上，鄧默兩人在82位嘉賓的見證下結成夫妻。此後，斯隆也與默多克家族成員交好。鄧文迪決定尋求更加獨立的司法顧問。斯隆拒絕對此發表評論。

儘管鄧默兩人簽有一份婚前協議和兩份婚後協議，大致規定離婚後分配財產的辦法，但仍需要進一步具體的談判。

比如，兩人的女兒，11歲的格蕾絲和9歲的克洛艾的監護權及撫養費就是重要的談判議題。有關子女的監護權和撫養費的協議在法庭上沒有約束力，所以極少寫入婚前協議，但常常被夫妻中財富較少的一方用作談判籌碼。

其他財產分割也存在爭議，比如他們在紐約第五大道的房產和遊艇。目前，44歲的鄧文迪和兩個女兒正乘坐遊艇在加勒比海度假。

圍繞默多克家庭信託基金也存在一些爭議。2006年，默多克在接受電視採訪時宣佈，格蕾絲和克洛伊與他前兩次婚姻所生的4個孩子一樣，在家庭基金會擁有同樣的經濟利益，但沒有同樣的股東表決權。這一表態令鄧文迪感到非常意外，兩人甚至幾乎因此離婚，並促使鄧文迪爲女兒爭取更有利的條件。扎貝爾是信託法方面的專家，他可能將受鄧文迪委託檢查默多克家庭信託基金的結構是否合理。

律師保羅•塔爾波特在紐約負責離婚案件，他說：“除非你非常有先見之明，否則即使是最精明的夫婦也常有考慮不到的事情需要談判，”

今年82歲的默多克在這起離婚訴訟中的代理律師是加爾•斯萊普（Garr Silpe）律師事務所的伊拉•E•加爾（Ira E. Garr）。默多克還十分倚重新聞集團和21世紀福克斯的總顧問格爾森•A•茨韋法赫（Gerson A. Zweifach）。默多克1998年與他第二任妻子安娜離婚時就花費了1.1億多美金。

一位公司發言人說，默多克這次離婚對兩家公司都沒有影響。

知情人士透露說，鄧文迪6月還住在其加州北部的家中，回到紐約後得知，默多克已經遞交了離婚文件。

鄧文迪拜訪過8位不同的律師，包括一些最善於打婚姻官司的知名法律顧問，她最後選擇了扎貝爾。起初，鄧文迪沒有時間挑選自己的離婚律師，就默認由斯隆代理此案。

扎貝爾是“舒爾特•羅斯和扎貝爾”(Schulte Roth & Zabel)律師事務所的合夥律師，客戶多爲富豪，曾爲喬治•索羅斯和雷曼家族提供建議，起草遺囑和信託書，爲他們的財產計劃出謀劃策。扎貝爾也替客戶處理更棘手的問題。他2010年曾爲老客戶慈善家和投資人傑弗裏•M•皮科沃（Jeffry M. Picower）處理過一宗聯邦政府的訴訟。案件中，皮科沃被控從伯納德•麥道夫的龐氏騙局中獲益72億美元。

扎貝爾偶爾也處理離婚案件，經常扮演調停者的角色。他曾幫多位名人和平離婚，包括：已故作家邁克爾•克萊頓、電臺主持人霍華德•斯特恩和紐約噴氣機橄欖球隊老闆羅伯特•伍德•約翰遜四世。

但有時他曾經涉及激烈的婚姻官司，比如通用電氣首席執行官韋爾奇的離婚案。韋爾奇與《哈佛商業評論》前總編蘇絲•韋特勞弗有染，被妻子發現後婚姻破裂。這場官司非常激烈，韋爾奇最終同意向前妻支付數億美元。

最近，他接手了一樁離婚案，當事人是費城老鷹橄欖球隊的老闆傑弗瑞•盧裏的前妻克里斯蒂娜•盧裏。兩人給20年的婚姻畫上句號。

扎貝爾極力避免參與離婚案件，常常把案子交給前妻埃莉諾•B•奧爾特代理。奧爾特本人也是紐約一位知名的婚姻案件律師。