Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt and ex-wife Jamie "expect to settle their divorce -- and with it the question of who owns the Dodgers -- in a trial during the 2012 baseball season," according to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. TIMES. The trial is "expected to start next spring or summer and last 30 to 45 days, a timetable set forth by attorneys on both sides after a hearing" yesterday in L.A. Superior Court. Shaikin notes it is "unclear when the Dodgers will emerge from federal bankruptcy protection." Although Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon "could decide ownership of the team before bankruptcy proceedings end, he emphasized Wednesday that 'the ultimate question of the disposition of the Dodgers' would need to wait for a resolution in Bankruptcy Court." Boies, Schiller & Flexner Managing Partner David Boies, an attorney for Jamie McCourt, said that he "intends to file a motion with the Bankruptcy Court seeking clarification of whether the parent company could be sold with the team included." The '12 trial "would resolve all remaining issues, including team ownership, permanent support and division of assets." The parties yesterday agreed Frank McCourt "would pay $225,000 per month in temporary spousal support -- eliminating the $412,000 per month he has been paying to maintain the couple's residential properties -- pending a November hearing" (L.A. TIMES, 9/15).
