August 23, 2010 7:00 PM

Family Ties Help McGuireWoods Land Tiger Woods Divorce Role

Posted by Brian Baxter

Eight months after embarrassing allegations about Tiger Woods's extramarital affairs first hit the gossip pages, a divorce settlement has been finalized between Woods and his former wife Elin Nordegren, according to The Associated Press and several other news reports.

Nordegren was advised by McGuireWoods, the firm that employs her twin sister. The Am Law Daily reported in March that Nordegren's sister, Josefin Lonnborg, is a corporate associate at McGuireWoods in London. The firm refused to comment at the time on Lonnborg's relationship with Nordegren, and a McGuireWoods spokesman again declined to comment on the associate or the Woods/Nordegren divorce when contacted Monday afternoon.

But it appears that family ties paid off for the firm. According to a statement released by McGuireWoods, Lonnborg was one of five lawyers from the firm representing Nordegren in her divorce from Woods. McGuireWoods chairman Richard Cullen and trusts and estates partner Dennis Belcher in Richmond, litigation partner Scott Cairns in Jacksonville, and corporate partner Walter White, Jr., in London led the team negotiating the divorce settlement. (Belcher is a past president of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.)

Rebecca Palmer of Orlando's Lowndes Drosdick Doster Kantor & Reed also advised Nordegren on her divorce from Woods. On Monday, both Nordegren and Woods appeared in Bay County Circuit Court in Panama City, Fla., where a joint petition was filed announcing their intention to separate. The AP reports that terms of the divorce settlement were not disclosed.

Woods was represented by Thomas Sasser of West Palm Beach, Fla., firm Sasser, Cestero & Sasser, as well as Peter Mott, the longtime general counsel for the golfer's business interests, who works at Southport, Conn.-based Brody Wilkinson.

While some news reports initially put the size of the divorce settlement at a whopping $750 million, more recent reports put the the actual amount at between $100 million and $150 million.

 

Photo: Getty Images

Make a comment

Comments (0)
Save & Share: Facebook | Del.ic.ious | | Email |

Reprints & Permissions

The comments to this entry are closed.