Fisher Potter Hodas is a law firm based in

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It specializes in the divorces of billionaires, CEOs, and major sports figures. The firm's work in international asset recovery was chronicled in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' investigative story "How to Hide $400 Million," written by

Nicholas Confessore Nicholas Confessore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning political correspondent on the National Desk of ''The New York Times''. Early life Confessore grew up in New York City and attended Hunter College High School. He was a politics major at Princeton ...

. In 2023, the firm merged with major New York divorce firm Rottenstreich Farley Bronstein to form RFB & Fisher Potter Hodas LLP.

Background

The firm was founded in 2011 by Jeffrey D. Fisher and Zachary Potter. Fisher graduated from the

University of Miami School of Law The University of Miami School of Law (Miami Law or UM Law) is the law school of the University of Miami, a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. Founded in 1926, the University of Miami School of Law is the oldest law school in ...

in 1980. He clerked with

United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

Judge Eugene P. Spellman before working as a federal prosecutor at the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Fisher handled cases involving drug smuggling, weapons violations, counterfeiting, and money laundering for the United States government from 1982 until late 1985. In 1986, Fisher opened the Florida office of Boston-based law firm Friedman & Atherton, where he was a protégé of renown Boston attorney Joel A. Kozol. Fisher transitioned into divorce law in 1991, when he represented Nancy Bernard in her divorce from

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

part-owner Jack Satter. In November 2002, '' Worth'' magazine named Fisher one of the nation's top ten divorce attorneys. Fisher was joined by Zachary Potter in 2011. Before joining Fisher, Potter was a corporate litigator at

Holland & Knight Holland & Knight LLP is an American multinational law firm with more than 1,700 lawyers and other professionals in 35 offices in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and North Africa. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, the firm provides repre ...

. Potter graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

and clerked for Judge

Richard J. Cardamone Richard Joseph Cardamone (October 10, 1925 – October 16, 2015) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Early life and career Born in Utica, New York in 1925, Cardamone was in the United ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juri ...

in New York. Potter has won awards in the Palm Beach area for his fundraising on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The firm acquired its current name on January 1, 2018, when Fisher and Potter joined practices with the Law Office of Benjamin T. Hodas and became Fisher, Potter, & Hodas, PLLC. Hodas is

board certified Board certification is the process by which a physician or other professional demonstrates a mastery of advanced knowledge and skills through written, practical, or simulator-based testing. Certification bodies There are more than 25 boards that ...

by the Florida Bar in marital and family law and served on the Executive Council of the Florida Bar Family Law Section. In 2017, Brendon Carrington joined the firm. Carrington is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He clerked for the Honorable Patrick E. Higginbotham in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and worked for Ropes & Gray prior to joining Fisher's team. Carrington became a partner at the firm in 2020. On March 1, 2020, Gerald F. Richman joined the firm. Richman is a former president of the Florida Bar. He has served on the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Evaluations Committee and as Chairman of the Fourth District Court of Appeal Judicial Nomination Commission. Over the course of his career, Richman was a captain in the United States Army, a

JAG Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judg ...

officer, and a White House aide to President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

Notable clients

Fisher Potter Hodas handles complex divorce cases and related civil litigation throughout Florida. Fisher's first divorce case, Nancy Bernard's divorce from

part-owner Jack Satter, was televised in the early days of

Court TV Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former cable television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cove ...

. The firm's other clients have included professional golfer

Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...

, the ex-husband of tennis star

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record ...

; Lisa Leder, ex-wife of

Sun Capital Sun Capital Partners, Inc., is an American private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts. Sun Capital was founded in 1995 by Marc J. Leder and Rodger Krouse, former classmates at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and ...

founder

Marc J. Leder Marc J. Leder is an American businessman who is the co-founder of Sun Capital Partners, Inc., a private equity firm based in Boca Raton, Florida. He is also a limited partner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. Early life and educ ...

; Angela Koch, ex-wife of billionaire

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

winner Bill Koch; Brooke Sealey, ex-wife of

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

racer

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...

; Susan Markin, ex-wife of Checker Motor Corporation owner David Markin; Ashley Kozel, ex-wife of

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company operating in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and also the operator of the Shaikan oil field. It was listed on the main market of the London Stock Exc ...

CEO Todd Kozel; Katherine Bellissimo, ex-wife of equestrian entrepreneur Mark Bellissimo, and musician Phil Collins. In 2015 through 2017, Fisher Potter Hodas represented Sarah Pursglove in her international divorce from Finnish internet entrepreneur Robert Oesterlund. The case involved asset recovery actions around the world and was the subject of a New York Times Magazine article titled "How to Hide $400 Million." In 2018 and 2019, the firm simultaneously represented nearly 70 entities with equity interests involved in the divorce of Burton and Lucille "Lovey" Handelsman. While many of the firm's clients remain anonymous, some clients' names become public when their cases go to trial due to Florida's open court policies. From 2016 through 2022, the firm's lawyers have tried to complete two cases involving assets in excess of $500 million and multiple cases with assets in excess of $50 million. Other cases have privately settled.

References

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External links

Fisher Potter Hodas website
Law firms based in Florida Law firms established in 2011 Privately held companies of the United States

Background

Notable clients

See also

References

External links