Video – Divorce Mediation Attorney Bill Leininger Discusses How Celebrity Divorces Are Not So Different From Their Fans

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

Hi, today we’re sitting with Bill Leininger, a Divorce Mediation Attorney in Staten Island, New York and Sarasota, Florida. We’re talking about issues regarding divorce and divorce mediation in the news. I’m your host, Ray Hrdlicka. Let’s get right into it.

Bill, when I read this article—well, actually, it’s an article from a major newspaper magazine—and it talks about celebrity divorces. But as I’m reading this, I’m thinking about the things that you’ve told us in previous interviews. And it struck me to ask you: do the wealthy, you know, because of course, they’re all celebrities, they all have, you know, tens of millions of dollars—do the wealthy have the same issues that the rest of us do? Because obviously, we’re going to talk about those and what was reported in the news here. But are those the same issues that you encounter for the rest of us?

In divorce and divorce mediation, I know you have focused on divorce mediation for many years because that’s so much more helpful to the parties than an actual contentious divorce. And I appreciate your commentary on that and your interviews in the past on that. And you can see them on our website, of course.

But let me give you some context here. There’s a reality show called Flip Flop, and I don’t know if I’m pronouncing, you know, half these names correctly. Christina Hayeks and a guy by the name of Josh Hall… they got divorced… Flip-Flop stars, but it’s interesting, you know. It was a contentious… going back and forth, but then he said, “I don’t… he doesn’t want to do mediation,” and he would rather litigate the issue and litigate it in public, litigate all the issues.

Do you find in divorce, when clients approach you, that there are some that say, “We’re not doing this. I’m going to try to bury you.”?

Bill Leininger – Divorce Mediation Attorney – Staten Island, NY and Sarasota FL

Yeah, we’ve had cases over the years. A, it’s a function of someone who has a lot of money. They have, they can hire the lawyer who charges it. Believe it or not, I had a case and the lawyer on the case was charging $1,200 an hour.

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

Oh my gosh.

Bill Leininger – Divorce Mediation Attorney – Staten Island, NY and Sarasota FL

But he wanted the most expensive because some people feel the most expensive divorce attorney or divorce mediator is the best one. Doesn’t necessarily follow…

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

I agree with you.

Bill Leininger – Divorce Mediation Attorney – Staten Island, NY and Sarasota FL

So, we do have those. The thing about “I want this public” that we see—even poor people can’t afford that, but middle class, upper middle class is sometimes the word—where one person has been terribly hurt, stereotypically, but not necessarily anymore. One of the parties is being unfaithful and is flaunting it in the other spouse’s face, you know, bringing the girlfriend or the boyfriend around.

I had one case where we got an order of protection keeping the alleged paramour, alleged boyfriend, from coming onto the property, and he would walk up to a foot away from the property line just to have his cigarettes there so that the other side, my client, could see that and infuriate that other client.

So, a lot of it is… How can I push my spouse’s buttons the most?

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

How do you bring down that emotional level? I mean, that’s up here. How do you bring that down as a divorce mediation attorney?

Bill Leininger – Divorce Mediation Attorney – Staten Island, NY and Sarasota FL

Well, a person like that generally has no interest. It’s very—it may not sound common sense, but people have a lot of money. They like to push the money around and show how tough they are, okay? And this idea of going to a divorce mediator to save money, to spare the children, everything else, that may not be what the person wants.

Think about it. Supposing you, have had an affair and, you know, and maybe drug addiction and spending tens of thousands of dollars up their nose and stuff like that. And now your spouse, she’s embarrassed. She doesn’t want to hear this come out.

Query: does your state have a private courtroom or is it open to the public? Some states, everything that is alleged… it will be in the courthouse, and you have a right to read about it. For example, in the state of Florida, I always caution people about what we put in court documents, because we don’t want to put social security numbers, we don’t want to put allegations of using drugs and this and that, because anybody can look at it.

Other states, more traditional states like New York, only the lawyers and the State Department of Taxation and the IRS can see what’s in that file.

So, if someone says, “I don’t want to be embarrassed,” they may want to take divorce mediation or arbitration because it’s not in a public courthouse. For many years in the Staten Island cases, the reporter name was Ray Wittick, and for over years he was in court every week writing up on the spicy stuff about the celebrities and the ugly people in Staten Island. And I would say, “Do you want Ray Wittick, the reporter, to write down everything, the sexual perversions of his spouse and this and this?” “Oh, God, no, I don’t—” Well, then you may want divorce mediation. And that’s bringing that level down to where divorce mediation can actually make a difference.

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

Yeah, I see that.