Baseball Player Getting Shook Down for Ex-Wife's Attorney's Padded Legal Fees?
June 1st, 2009 by Glenn Sacks, MA for Fathers & Families
Washington Nationals outfielder Elijah Dukes seems to be making an effort to put his problems behind him, but the troubled ballplayer certainly has not been a poster boy for fatherhood. Nevertheless, there's something noteworthy about the latest in his financial battle with his ex-wife.
From Dukes Faces Possible Jail Time for Legal Fees (Washington Post, 5/29/09):
Hillsborough (Fla.) Circuit Court Judge Mark Wolfe on Friday ordered that [Washington Nationals outfielder Elijah] Dukes, 24, must pay $39,767 in outstanding legal fees for his estranged wife's attorneys. If he doesn't make the payment by June 5 at 5 p.m., he could face 90 days in jail.
Dukes did not attend today's hearing, which came after attorneys for NiShea Dukes filed a motion for civil contempt, a means to claim unpaid fees.
Dukes, with a history of legal trouble, faced a similarly-sized debt -- and a similar threat for jail time -- in January.
Then, however, he was responsible for some $40,000 in unpaid child support and alimony payments. Dukes avoided jail by making the payments.
"He waited last time until the very last second to make the payment, and I'm sure this time will be no different," said Rick Escobar, an attorney who represents NiShea Dukes...
Dukes's attorney, Grady Irvin, said that his client would make the payment and avoid jail time.
The Nationals, who are paying Dukes $411,500 this season, currently deduct a monthly sum from his salary and allocate it for child support. NiShea Dukes has three children with Elijah...
"Listen, Elijah is having a pretty good season," Irvin said. "He is doing well. He is current on his child support. His wife, NiShea, will go to any length to smear him. She won't even grant a divorce. Elijah has been trying to get a divorce. All this is over attorney's fees. This is not child support. If Elijah Dukes isn't paying child support, it's a different story."
I don't know if Dukes' attorney's version of the story is accurate or not, but this business of jailing men for not paying their ex-wife's attorneys' fees is troubling for several reasons.
One, of course, is that the attorneys' task is usually to minimize the father's role in his children's lives as much as possible. Dads are thus compelled to pay to have someone demean them as fathers and drive them away from their children.
Another is that when the attorney has a high-earner on the hook, he'll drag the case out and pad his bills. Dukes' attorney claims the ex-wife's attorney is doing this here. I don't know if this is true, but I've certainly seen it in many cases.
Readers may recall that this was an issue in the case of one Fathers & Families member whose case was recently profiled on the front page of the Boston Globe. The gentleman is in the real estate business and fell behind on his child support. He was jailed for 30 days for being behind on his child support and the money he owed his ex-wife's attorney--to read more, click here.
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June 1st, 2009 at 10:46 am
And you can bet if he gets an even bigger contract that she will be right there. This sounds to much like extortion and the woman wont "Grant" and divorce. Last I checked you could divorce regardless if the other partner wants it or not.
Shes trying to milk this for all its worth. Stories like these are why I consider most attorneys to be the worst of the bottom feeders of society.
June 1st, 2009 at 11:35 am
And how are tens of thousands of dollars for legal fees in the best interest of Mr. Elijah Dukes' children?
Right. Saving the children at $400 per hour. It's about the kids.
Another rich guy getting legally robbed by the divorce industry.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:28 pm
I would be very curious to know what NiShea's lifestyle is like. What type of job she has, how much higher education she has, what type of car she drives, what her friends are like, and so on.
It sounds like NiShea is the type of woman that will milk her husband / ex-husband for every nickle he can earn. In the not so distant future, Elijah will have to look for another career. Baseball players might be good for 6 - 8 years, if they are lucky. Once that is over the lifestyle will end too, for both of them. If I were her I would be going to school now or building a career for when that time ends. If she is recieving massive financial support now she might want to bank it. She and the kids might need it later.
June 1st, 2009 at 5:03 pm
i wonder if he still thinks marriage is cool?
June 1st, 2009 at 6:35 pm
John Boy Says: "Once that is over the lifestyle will end too, for both of them."
What was the name of the sports player who was picked up in Florida on child support warrant about a year ago?
He was rich and famous, then a decade after his fame and fortune was gone started teaching in a school making an average salary like everyone else, but his child support monthly obligation remained at sport celebrity level.
He owed like low six digits.
June 1st, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Donnie, it's not about marriage; it's about babies. As long as a 'she' can get a 'he' on the hook for baby money, marriage isn't required.
These cases sound so much like the welfare mommys of the 70s and 80s. As any school guidance counselor of that era will confirm, the girls would say "I'm gonna do like my momma an' granny. They had a baby and got a check." Today, the checks come from the sperm donor; only difference.
"Meal ticket" means 'man' means "meal ticket." Any man with live sperm better learn this.
June 1st, 2009 at 10:42 pm
I spent 33 days in jail when unemployment kept me from paying my ex's attorney fees.
After research, I found that under my state's law, attorneys fees could not be awarded in a change of custody matter such as I had pursued. When I told that fact to the judge that was confirming my incarceration, she didn't dispute what I said, just that she was enforcing the order, legal or not didn't matter.
We, and our sons to come, need change.
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:43 am
Florida is a corrupt state and all you have to do is follow the money. Perhaps Fathers and Families can get in at the grassroots level in Florida's governors race since the governorship comes up in 2010 and Charlie Crist won't run again.
Ironically, the Florida Bar is hosting a conference in Tampa to educate attorneys on how increase their divorce sales with the military heavily concentrated in that area (MacDill AFB). Just think-- as you "fight" for this country's "freedoms," a group is conspiring against your marriage and family and no one calls them "enemy combatants?"
Yes, this past February, the Florida Bar Family Law Division Celebrated their yearly conference at Disney in Orlando with the theme "Let's give peace a chance." Google this up and the nice pictures of attorneys livining it up at the parties.
The good news is that this corruption is only as strong as a paper tiger in FL, and wouldn't take much to turn it over.
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:01 am
At this time, you have some lottery fathers. As more women who are the bread winners lose custody of the children, they too, will become lottery moms.
Currently, about 85 percent of all custody determinations make the mother the primary custodian. However, that is changing and Florida has changed the terms it is no longer custodial but residential parent. Some of the new laws are interesting and if they are followed, it would place at least some men at a more equal basis with their children.
Political policy and social policy changes slowly. Now, more than half of the college students are women. about half of all law school students are women. women are now becoming more successful in many areas and at some point, there may have to be a title VII or ViX for men so that they are treated equally.