Case Notes

'Missing' $20 Million at Issue in Lawyers' Divorce

A multimillion dollar divorce trial between two Southern California lawyers with Big Law credentials was set to kick off in early August in Los Angeles Superior Court. If pretrial filings are any indication, the proceedings promise to be more Hollywood drama than divorce court.

Hydee Feldstein, a former partner at Sullivan & Cromwell and Paul Hastings, will go up against husband Peter Gregora, a partner emeritus at Irell & Manella. Feldstein claims Gregora set up elaborate financial schemes to conceal and take control of the couple's joint assets, including investing almost $20 million in a hidden equity fund in Luxembourg. She says Gregora breached his fiduciary duties to her, which means she is entitled to all of the couple's millions in shared assets.

Feldstein specialized in bankruptcy and leveraged lending law throughout her legal career, raising the question of how a financial attorney with almost 30 years of experience could lose track of $20 million. Feldstein's lawyers say she was “naive and trusting” during her marriage, and fell prey to her husband's sophisticated financial cunning.

Gregora, who specializes in corporate tax, real estate and banking law, says his wife has no proof of her “outrageous allegations,” and suggests Feldstein has a history of making paranoid, unfounded accusations. In a pretrial brief, he says she has accused her former employers of tapping her phone, installing cameras in her house and plotting to kill her.

The couple had spent a combined $4.5 million in legal fees ' and that's before a single day of trial. Both sides blame the other for the enormous legal bills. “Hydee's 'scorched earth' litigation tactics have resulted in a devastating drain on the community's assets,” Gregora's lawyers wrote. Gregora's lawyers estimate the couple had accumulated a shared estate of $15 million, not including their $7.25 million home.

Gregora has retained Dennis Wasser, a Los Angeles divorce attorney known for representing high-profile clients such as Tom Cruise. Feldstein is represented by Christopher Rudd, a former partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and Venable.

Both attorneys declined to talk publicly. Gregora and Feldstein met in June 1981 at Irell & Manella, where he was a partner and she was a summer associate. They started living together three years later when he was 37 and she was 25. The couple married in 1986, and Gregora filed for divorce in 2013. They have one adult son.

Gregora managed the couple's finances during the marriage, with his wife's permission, according to pretrial filings. Feldstein claims her husband secretly ferreted their money among dozens of bank accounts and investment funds, some overseas, in an effort to keep it from her. He invested $19.5 million in a Luxembourg fund managed by Versa Capital Management Inc., according to Feldstein's pretrial brief. Gregora maintains Feldstein's accusations are “preposterous,” and says dealing with her claims has been a “macabre game of 'Whack a Mole.'” ' Marisa Kendal, The Recorder

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'Missing' $20 Million at Issue in Lawyers' Divorce

A multimillion dollar divorce trial between two Southern California lawyers with Big Law credentials was set to kick off in early August in Los Angeles Superior Court. If pretrial filings are any indication, the proceedings promise to be more Hollywood drama than divorce court.

Hydee Feldstein, a former partner at Sullivan & Cromwell and Paul Hastings, will go up against husband Peter Gregora, a partner emeritus at Irell & Manella. Feldstein claims Gregora set up elaborate financial schemes to conceal and take control of the couple's joint assets, including investing almost $20 million in a hidden equity fund in Luxembourg. She says Gregora breached his fiduciary duties to her, which means she is entitled to all of the couple's millions in shared assets.

Feldstein specialized in bankruptcy and leveraged lending law throughout her legal career, raising the question of how a financial attorney with almost 30 years of experience could lose track of $20 million. Feldstein's lawyers say she was “naive and trusting” during her marriage, and fell prey to her husband's sophisticated financial cunning.

Gregora, who specializes in corporate tax, real estate and banking law, says his wife has no proof of her “outrageous allegations,” and suggests Feldstein has a history of making paranoid, unfounded accusations. In a pretrial brief, he says she has accused her former employers of tapping her phone, installing cameras in her house and plotting to kill her.

The couple had spent a combined $4.5 million in legal fees ' and that's before a single day of trial. Both sides blame the other for the enormous legal bills. “Hydee's 'scorched earth' litigation tactics have resulted in a devastating drain on the community's assets,” Gregora's lawyers wrote. Gregora's lawyers estimate the couple had accumulated a shared estate of $15 million, not including their $7.25 million home.

Gregora has retained Dennis Wasser, a Los Angeles divorce attorney known for representing high-profile clients such as Tom Cruise. Feldstein is represented by Christopher Rudd, a former partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and Venable.

Both attorneys declined to talk publicly. Gregora and Feldstein met in June 1981 at Irell & Manella, where he was a partner and she was a summer associate. They started living together three years later when he was 37 and she was 25. The couple married in 1986, and Gregora filed for divorce in 2013. They have one adult son.

Gregora managed the couple's finances during the marriage, with his wife's permission, according to pretrial filings. Feldstein claims her husband secretly ferreted their money among dozens of bank accounts and investment funds, some overseas, in an effort to keep it from her. He invested $19.5 million in a Luxembourg fund managed by Versa Capital Management Inc., according to Feldstein's pretrial brief. Gregora maintains Feldstein's accusations are “preposterous,” and says dealing with her claims has been a “macabre game of 'Whack a Mole.'” ' Marisa Kendal, The Recorder

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