Just over a month after Rupert Murdoch surprised his wife of 14 years with divorce papers, Wendi Murdoch has switched lawyers, a move signaling that the separation could take an acrimonious turn.
Mrs. Murdoch has hired William D. Zabel, a well-known New York trusts and estates lawyer who has represented several women in their divorces from wealthy businessmen, including Jane Beasley Welch during her contentious split from John F. Welch, the former chief executive of General Electric.
A spokesman for Mrs. Murdoch, Christopher Giglio, confirmed the hiring of Mr. Zabel, but otherwise declined to comment.
Mrs. Murdoch had been represented by Pamela M. Sloan, who advised Mrs. Murdoch on her prenuptial agreement with Mr. Murdoch in 1999, when the couple married in front of 82 guests on board his 155-foot sailing yacht, the Morning Glory.
But since then, Ms. Sloan had become friendly with the Murdochs, and Mrs. Murdoch decided that she wanted more independent counsel, said a person with direct knowledge of the case who like many people declined to be identified discussing personal matters.
Ms. Sloan did not return a request for comment.
Although the Murdochs signed a prenuptial agreement and two postnuptial agreements delineating the separation of assets in the event of a divorce, there are a number of areas that remain up for negotiation, said people with knowledge of the case who spoke only on the condition of anonymity.
For one, there are the custody arrangements and child support for their daughters, Grace, 11, and Chloe, 9, these people said. Because they are not binding on the court, custody arrangements and child support are rarely part of prenuptial agreements, and are often used by the less-moneyed spouse as leverage in negotiations.
Other issues that could be contended include the division of certain assets, like their Fifth Avenue penthouse and the yacht, on which Mrs. Murdoch, 44, and her daughters are currently vacationing in the Caribbean.
There is also the contentious issue surrounding the Murdoch family trust. Mr. Murdoch surprised his wife in 2006 when he announced during a television interview with Charlie Rose that Grace and Chloe would have the same economic interest in the family’s trust but not the same voting rights as his four children from his previous two marriages.
The slip almost created a separation, and prompted Mrs. Murdoch to negotiate more favorable terms for her daughters, according to people close to the couple.
Mr. Zabel, an expert in trust law, is expected to examine the soundness of the trust structure.
“Even with the most sophisticated couple, unless you have perfect 20/20 foresight often some issues can arise that weren’t taken into consideration and are prime for negotiation,” said Paul M. Talbert, a divorce lawyer at Donohoe Talbert in New York, who is not involved in the Murdoch case.
Representing Mr. Murdoch, 82, in the divorce proceeding is Ira E. Garr of the law firm Garr Silpe. But Mr. Murdoch is also relying heavily on the advice of Gerson A. Zweifach, the general counsel of both News Corporation and 21st Century Fox, as the newly separated companies are now known. Mr. Murdoch’s 1998 divorce from his second wife, Anna, cost more than $110 million in cash.
A company spokeswoman has said the divorce will have no effect on either company.
Shortly after a visit to the couple’s Northern California home in June, Mrs. Murdoch returned to New York to learn that Mr. Murdoch had served her with divorce papers, according to several people close to the couple who would not discuss their private matters for attribution.
Mrs. Murdoch, after interviewing about eight different lawyers, including leading members of the matrimonial bar like Robert Stephan Cohen and Peter E. Bronstein, chose Mr. Zabel. Initially, Mrs. Murdoch did not have time to screen potential divorce lawyers and turned to Ms. Sloan, a trusted confidante, by default.
The core of Mr. Zabel’s practice at the law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel is advising wealthy clients like George Soros and the Lehman family, drafting their wills and trusts and advising on estate planning. But he also handles messier matters for his clients; in 2010, for instance, he represented the estate of his longtime client, the Palm Beach philanthropist and investor Jeffry M. Picower, in a $7.2 billion settlement with the federal government over claims related to money that he received from Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
There is also the occasional divorce assignment. Much of the time, Mr. Zabel will play the role of mediator, and has peaceably settled the divorces of the late author Michael Crichton, the radio host Howard Stern and the New York Jets owner Robert Wood Johnson IV.
But at times, he has been involved in nasty marital spats, like that of Ms. Welch, whose marriage collapsed after she discovered her husband’s dalliance with the journalist Suzy Wetlaufer. The divorce was fiercely litigated and settled on the courthouse steps in 2002 only after Mr. Welch agreed to pay Ms. Welch several hundred million dollars.
More recently, he represented Christina Lurie, the former wife of the Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, who divorced after 20 years of marriage. Ms. Lurie remained a part owner of the team.
Because he keeps divorce representations to a minimum, Mr. Zabel often refers cases to his former wife, Eleanor B. Alter, herself a prominent matrimonial lawyer in New York.
据《纽约时报》日前报道，一个月前，传媒大亨鲁珀特•默多克突然向与他结婚14年的妻子邓文迪提出离婚。邓文迪则于近日更换律师，这意味着两人离婚可能进入针锋相对的阶段。
邓文迪聘请威廉•扎贝尔为新的法律顾问。扎贝尔是纽约知名不动产律师，曾代理过多个富豪离婚案件，其中包括通用电气首席执行官约翰•F•韦尔奇和前妻简•比丝丽•韦尔奇与之间那场激烈的离婚诉讼。
邓文迪的发言人克里斯多夫• 吉里奥确定邓已经聘请了扎贝尔，但拒绝发表更多评论。
此前邓文迪的律师是帕梅拉•M•斯隆，她曾于1999年为邓文迪和默多克的婚前协议未邓文迪提出建议。不久，在默多克的豪华游艇上，邓默两人在82位嘉宾的见证下结成夫妻。此后，斯隆也与默多克家族成员交好。邓文迪决定寻求更加独立的司法顾问。斯隆拒绝对此发表评论。
尽管邓默两人签有一份婚前协议和两份婚后协议，大致规定离婚后分配财产的办法，但仍需要进一步具体的谈判。
比如，两人的女儿，11岁的格蕾丝和9岁的克洛艾的监护权及抚养费就是重要的谈判议题。有关子女的监护权和抚养费的协议在法庭上没有约束力，所以极少写入婚前协议，但常常被夫妻中财富较少的一方用作谈判筹码。
其他财产分割也存在争议，比如他们在纽约第五大道的房产和游艇。目前，44岁的邓文迪和两个女儿正乘坐游艇在加勒比海度假。
围绕默多克家庭信托基金也存在一些争议。2006年，默多克在接受电视采访时宣布，格 蕾丝和克洛伊与他前两次婚姻所生的4个孩子一样，在家庭基金会拥有同样的经济利益，但没有同样的股东表决权。这一表态令邓文迪感到非常意外，两人甚至几乎 因此离婚，并促使邓文迪为女儿争取更有利的条件。扎贝尔是信托法方面的专家，他可能将受邓文迪委托检查默多克家庭信托基金的结构是否合理。
律师保罗•塔尔波特在纽约负责离婚案件，他说：“除非你非常有先见之明，否则即使是最精明的夫妇也常有考虑不到的事情需要谈判，”
今年82岁的默多克在这起离婚诉讼中的代理律师是加尔•斯莱普（Garr Silpe）律师事务所的伊拉•E•加尔（Ira E. Garr）。默多克还十分倚重新闻集团和21世纪福克斯的总顾问格尔森•A•茨韦法赫（Gerson A. Zweifach）。默多克1998年与他第二任妻子安娜离婚时就花费了1.1亿多美金。
一位公司发言人说，默多克这次离婚对两家公司都没有影响。
知情人士透露说，邓文迪6月还住在其加州北部的家中，回到纽约后得知，默多克已经递交了离婚文件。
邓文迪拜访过8位不同的律师，包括一些最善于打婚姻官司的知名法律顾问，她最后选择了扎贝尔。起初，邓文迪没有时间挑选自己的离婚律师，就默认由斯隆代理此案。
扎贝尔是“舒尔特•罗斯和扎贝尔”(Schulte Roth & Zabel)律师事务所的合伙律师，客户多为富豪，曾为乔治•索罗斯和雷曼家族提供建议，起草遗嘱和信托书，为他们的财产计划出谋划策。扎贝尔也替客户处 理更棘手的问题。他2010年曾为老客户慈善家和投资人杰弗里•M•皮科沃（Jeffry M. Picower）处理过一宗联邦政府的诉讼。案件中，皮科沃被控从伯纳德•麦道夫的庞氏骗局中获益72亿美元。
扎贝尔偶尔也处理离婚案件，经常扮演调停者的角色。他曾帮多位名人和平离婚，包括：已故作家迈克尔•克莱顿、电台主持人霍华德•斯特恩和纽约喷气机橄榄球队老板罗伯特•伍德•约翰逊四世。
但有时他曾经涉及激烈的婚姻官司，比如通用电气首席执行官韦尔奇的离婚案。韦尔奇与《哈佛商业评论》前总编苏丝•韦特劳弗有染，被妻子发现后婚姻破裂。这场官司非常激烈，韦尔奇最终同意向前妻支付数亿美元。
最近，他接手了一桩离婚案，当事人是费城老鹰橄榄球队的老板杰弗瑞•卢里的前妻克里斯蒂娜•卢里。两人给20年的婚姻画上句号。
扎贝尔极力避免参与离婚案件，常常把案子交给前妻埃莉诺•B•奥尔特代理。奥尔特本人也是纽约一位知名的婚姻案件律师。