Jamie McCourt Seeking Nearly $1 Million Per Month in Spousal Support

Attention Donald Sterling: Frank and Jamie McCourt may soon be challenging your status as L.A.'s least-likable sports owner.

The couple, which purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers for roughly $400 million in late 2003, is locked in a nasty divorce that seems to get more bizarre with each week -- and has raised questions about the club's financial stability and future. In the latest salvo, revealed in court documents filed Tuesday and reported by the Los Angeles Times, Frank McCourt's attorneys say that he should not have to pay Jamie nearly $1 million per month in spousal support while the case is ongoing.

They claim that Jamie should be able to cover her monthly expenses by selling or renting properties that she owns outright, or by tapping nearly $11 million in liquid assets in her name. Frank's legal team also argued that Jamie is intentionally running up "immense and unjustifiable" legal fees in an attempt to get back at Frank because, according to his legal team, she has realized that she has "no chance at prevailing" in her attempt to gain control of the Dodgers.

Those nasty words come on the heels of recent revelations that the couple expects to spend nearly $20 million in combined legal and accounting fees on the divorce, an astronomical figure that would make the McCourts' split the most expensive divorce in California history.

There is certainly no shortage of high-profile attorneys working on the case: In addition to long-time entertainment lawyer Bert Fields and Hollywood divorce veteran Dennis Wasser, Jamie's legal team now includes David Boies, the New York-based attorney who famously represented Al Gore in his Supreme Court case against George W. Bush after the disputed 2000 presidential election. Frank's team, meanwhile, includes Marshall Grossman, a business litigation expert who formerly represented Guess? Jeans founder Georges Marciano, as well as Sorrell Trope, a noted divorce specialist who has represented Britney Spears and Nicole Kidman.

Lingering over the particulars of the divorce is the issue of who will control the Dodgers once the dust settles. Frank claims that a post-nuptial agreement signed by Jamie gives him sole and separate ownership of the team, while she argues that the document should be invalidated and was never intended to make him the lone owner. The trial to decide the ownership dispute is scheduled to begin on May 24, while arguments on the spousal support issue will be heard in court on March 29.

Frank has said repeatedly that the couple's divorce has had no bearing on the club's ability to spend money on payroll, but the Dodgers signed no notable free agents during this past offseason and opted not to re-sign veteran left-hander Randy Wolf, the team's most consistent starter last season. In a filing related to the divorce, however, Frank conceded that the club has eliminated private-jet travel for team executives in an effort to reduce costs.

So far, the couple's discord has not dampened fans' enthusiasm for the club, which has advanced to the National League Championship Series the last two seasons. An estimated 3,500 fans showed up in the rain at at Dodger Stadium last Saturday, the first day single-game tickets were made available, and the team's April 13 home opener against Arizona sold out in 10 minutes, according to the Dodgers