TIME: Almanac 1990/1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso/time/010989/01098900.002

Text File | 1990-09-17 | 6KB | 96 lines

LAW, Page 53

A Struggle for Splitsville's Bucks

Raoul Felder tops Marvin Mitchelson as the No. 1 unhitcher


    Throwing the first punch against husband Mike Tyson last
October, Robin Givens hired Marvin Mitchelson, the dean of American
divorce gurus, to handle her much publicized breakup with the world
heavyweight boxing champion. But Givens soon dropped the Los
Angeles attorney and signed with Raoul Felder, 54, a New York City
divorce lawyer who has won handsome settlements for the former
wives of Mel Brooks, Martin Scorsese and Robin Leach, among others.
For Felder to take charge of the season's most ballyhooed split
seemed a fitting turnaround. Mitchelson, 60, who has recently been
accused of professional misconduct and even rape, appears to
preside over a tarnished empire. Felder, meanwhile, is quickly
becoming the nation's No. 1 unplighter of celebrity troths. Says
he, modestly: "I'm the hot game in town."

    The whole divorce game, in fact, is simmering. Some 1,157,000
divorces were granted last year, and about 20,000 lawyers in the
U.S. specialize in divorce, with another 20,000 occasionally
handling breakups. According to Richard Podell, head of the
American Bar Association's family-law section, 42 states now have
some form of no-fault divorce proceedings, in which assets, not
adultery, are the prime issue. These days, most divorces are
conducted as negotiable business arrangements.

    Felder, whose firm billed some $12 million last year, is one
of the sharpest operators at the negotiating table. Typical of his
bargaining skills was the 1986 out-of-court settlement that saved
more than $400 million for real estate magnate Sol Goldman, who has
since died. But when Felder does go to court, says Peter Bronstein,
a well-known Manhattan matrimonial lawyer, "he stands up and he
yells and screams. People know he's there." The dapper Felder, who
charges $450 per hour (compared with Mitchelson's $350), attributes
his success in part to a no-nonsense way of handling the rich and
famous. "You can't fawn over a celebrity," he insists. "Most of
them are narcissistic, self-involved, with little insight into
what's going on in their life. You have to be able to tell them
off."

    Far more important than Felder's brief-side manner, however,
is his ability to win big money for clients with his uncanny
publicity skills. Perceiving that the public had judged Robin
Givens to be a gold digger in pursuit of her hubby's heavyweight
fortune, Felder told the press that Robin sought no money from the
divorce. But less than a month later, he filed a $125 million libel
suit against Tyson on her behalf. The reason? The champ was quoted
in the New York Post lambasting the actress and her mother as,
among other things, "the slime of the slime." Says Felder, with
some glee: "This is the highest-profile divorce ever. We're getting
hate mail."

    Felder and Mitchelson actually have more than a little in
common. Both men are married to former actresses and flaunt
ostentatious life-styles. Both are energetic courtroom performers
who run primarily on instinct. Quips Bronstein: "Neither could be
mistaken for the editor of the Harvard Law Review."  In fact, the
two men in 1981  discussed merging their practices to form a
bicoastal divorce powerhouse. But nothing came of the idea: neither
attorney seemed to need the business.

    These days, however, Mitchelson might want to reconsider. Since
he won a highly publicized divorce settlement for actor James
Mason's wife Pamela in 1964, Mitchelson has built a multimillion
dollar practice helping the likes of Joan Collins, Tony Curtis and
Zsa Zsa Gabor get unhitched. Perhaps Mitchelson's chief claim to
legal fame was the concept of palimony, which he  introduced by
arguing in 1970 that Michelle Triola, Lee Marvin's live-in lover,
might be entitled to some of the actor's property. The California
Supreme Court endorsed the palimony principle in 1976.

    But lately Mitchelson's luck has gone sour. Last year the newly
aggressive State Bar of California accused him of serious offenses,
including charging "unconscionable" fees and failing to return
unearned portions of advance payments. He will have to answer the
charges at a hearing, probably next spring. Should the charges
stick, he could face punishment ranging from a reprimand to
disbarment. As if that were not trouble enough, London-based
Sotheby's has sued Mitchelson for failing to pay for an estimated
$1 million worth of jewelry, formerly belonging to the Duchess of
Windsor, that he bought at an auction in 1987. California courts,
meanwhile, have ordered him to pay $40,000 for bringing frivolous
appeals.

    In 1985 law-enforcement authorities began investigating claims
by two former clients that Mitchelson raped them. The lawyer hired
well-known Los Angeles trial attorney Howard Weitzman, who
currently represents Tyson in divorce proceedings with Givens, to
defend him in the criminal case. The investigation was dropped in
1987 for lack of evidence. Both women, however, are suing
Mitchelson in civil court. One of the women, Kristen
Barrett-Whitney, claims that Mitchelson forced her to have sex with
him in his office bathroom. "I've never raped anyone," says
Mitchelson. Still, the old public relations pro admits  the
negative publicity is hurting business. Says Mitchelson: "I like
to live by the sword. But I didn't say that I wanted to die by it."