Gene MaddausMediation Day. The Dodgers are 12 games out of first place.
Frank and Jamie McCourt were unable to reach a settlement during a long day of closed-door mediation on Friday,
The two sides are apparently far enough apart that they did not believe it was worth staying late into the night or coming in over the weekend to continue their talks.
The trial will resume, as scheduled, on Monday morning.
Lawyers for each side left the building around 6:30 p.m., managing to get away without being noticed by the five reporters who hung around long enough to hear the news. Word of the impasse was delivered by Allan Parachini, the court's public information officer.
Around 5 p.m., Dennis Wasser, Jamie's lead divorce counsel, stepped outside the courtroom and said the reporters were wasting their time. “If you're asking if we're on the edge of an agreement, the answer is no,” he said.
The lawyers have been chatty throughout the trial, but today they were tight-lipped. Steve Susman, Frank's lead attorney, left the courtroom at one point to get some sodas. “Slow process,” was all he said.
A short time later, Michael Kump, an attorney on Jamie's team, left the courtroom and yawned.
The parties do intend to schedule another mediation session, but it seems like it won't happen before both sides rest their cases.
Waiting all day in the hallway, reporters became like announcers trying to kill time during a rain delay. Some talked baseball stats, while others shared stories about mutual acquaintances.
In that spirit, and in the absence of any major news, here's some totally irrelevant Dodger trial trivia.
Of the 11 lawyers on both sides, there are only two whom you'd call diehard Dodger fans — one on each side. On Frank's side is Marc Seltzer, an owlish guy who's a partner in the Los Angeles office of Susman Godfrey. He has very good season tickets, which have been in his wife's family for 40 years.
On Jamie's side is Bruce Cooperman, a partner at Wasser, Cooperman & Carter. Cooperman said his mother pulled him out of kindergarten so he could go to the first game ever played at Dodger Stadium, in 1962. He's been a Dodger fan ever since.
Full McCourt coverage:
Day 11:
Wasser The Dealmaker Versus Susman The Carnivore
Day 10:
Dodger Execs Circle The Wagons Around Frank
Mediation Day:
A Long Day Ends Without A Deal
Day 9:
Settlement Talks Loom As Silverstein's Agony Ends
Day 8:
The Screwing of Larry Silverstein
The Return of Silverstein's Boner, In Which Two Interpretations Are Explained
Day 7:
Reynolds Cafferata's Dodger Dreams
Day 6:
Frank's Four Self-Defeating Arguments
Steve Susman Sharpens His Knives
Week 1 Wrap-Up:
The Desperate Hunt For Exhibit A, Or, How To Blame The Conquistadors
Day 5:
Day 4:
Day 3:
Nervous? Frank McCourt Blinks 75 Times/Min.
Day 2:
Steve Susman Goes On The Attack
Day 1:
Trial Opens With A Win For Jamie
Even more McCourt:
L.A. Weekly cover story, Dodger Dog, from August
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