Court awards Stein McGuire client nearly one-half million dollars in palimony case
Michael Martino lead trial counsel in novel case
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
CONTACT:
Barbara Herbert
bherbert@steinlegal.com
+ (973) 992-1100
(LIVINGSTON, NJ) — In a case of first impression, a Hudson County (NJ) court awarded a plaintiff nearly one half million dollars in a palimony suit that brought claims against the defendant palimony “partner” and also against that partner’s wife. After a two week trial, Judge Maureen P. Sogluizzo, J.S.C., Hudson County, held that not only had the plaintiff established that there was a palimony relationship with her defendant boyfriend, but that plaintiff also had an equitable relationship with the boyfriend’s wife, and was therefore entitled to a financial award from her as well. Certified Civil Trial Attorney, Michael Martino, of the Livingston-based firm, Stein McGuire Pantages & Gigl, LLP represented the plaintiff. He was assisted in the trial by Janet Bayer, an associate with the firm.
According to Martino, a Stein McGuire partner: “This finding demonstrates that our courts are becoming increasing sensitive to the plight of individuals who are promised support but are then cut loose financially after years of having served, lived and acted as if they were married even though they did not legally tie the knot. And further, that our courts will consider seemingly unusual facts and circumstances and, if warranted, hold a husband and wife jointly responsible for palimony and related claims made against both of them by a sole plaintiff.”
Martino stated that in 1982, the plaintiff, then a 24-year old British Airways flight attendant, was wooed away from her flight position through promises of marriage and an assurance of support and a high standard of living by defendant, a then 44-year old businessman who resided in a private villa and yacht in the Bahamas with his “aunt” who was 20 years his senior. What the plaintiff did not know at the time was that the defendant was married to this “aunt” who was supporting him and their lavish lifestyle through her sizeable six-figure annual trust fund. The defendant had previously represented to the plaintiff that he derived his income exclusively from international businesses.
It turns out that the marriage of the defendant and his “aunt” was simply a matter of legal convenience designed to protect her trust monies from her children who had previously instituted incompetency proceedings in an attempt to gain control of her trust income. Purportedly, the defendant and his “aunt”/wife’s relationship was and remained exclusively platonic.
Martino added that after the plaintiff uncovered the truth about her boyfriend’s existing marriage, and she threatened to leave, he pleaded with her to stay with him until he could become financially independent of his wife when, he promised, he would obtain a divorce and marry the plaintiff. During the subsequent 12 years, the plaintiff not only worked without pay in the defendant’s businesses, all of which failed, but also borrowed money from her mother to help him and his wife purchase a Northern New Jersey luxury condominium, in return for which he promised to include her name on the deed.
Plaintiff ultimately left the defendant, and when he refused to give her a fair share of their then-accumulated assets, as promised, she filed her lawsuit that included, in addition to a claim for palimony, damages based on theories of partnership, joint venture, constructive trust, and promissory estopple. The court agreed with Martino’s argument that, “all three parties benefited from the tri-parte relationship” and that the plaintiff was entitled to both the support that defendant promised her as well as compensation for her contribution to his business, his wife’s care, and the purchase of the condo.
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