Beasley
Sara Buske, the Edwardsville native involved in a contentious divorce that ended last year, claims she did not know about a pre-nuptial agreement that is at the center of a lawsuit she has filed against her divorce attorneys.
Sara Buske is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 from the Springfield law firm of Feldman, Wasser, Draper & Cox for allegedly botching the divorce settlement that netted her $325,000.
Sara Buske's divorce from her husband of more than a decade, Thomas Buske, was finalized last year after a settlement was reached in December 2009.
Thomas Buske, a former trucking magnate, is facing federal charges in Wisconsin for allegedly bilking millions from S.C. Johnson and Sons Inc. using inflated invoices.
S.C. Johnson also won a $203.8 million civil judgment against Thomas Buske over the incident in a Wisconsin state court.
Sara Buske filed for divorce eight days after the civil judgment was entered.
Thomas Buske continued to live in the couple's Edwardsville home until the middle of 2009.
S.C. Johnson moved to intervene in the divorce claiming that it was a sham meant to shelter Thomas Buske's assets from the Wisconsin judgment.
The company filed a motion asking for the production of a pre-nuptial agreement it said would prove its case.
The three parties reached a settlement before the pre-nuptial agreement was made public.
A trust worth $425,000 was set up for the Buskes' children.
Thomas Buske was allowed to keep $50,000 in personal property.
S.C. Johnson took the rest of Thomas Buske's assets as payment for the Wisconsin judgment.
Sara Buske sued the Feldman firm claiming that it knew about the pre-nuptial agreement and failed to disclose that it damaged her divorce case.
She is also suing her St. Louis-based accountants, RSM McGladrey Inc. for allegedly giving her bad tax advice during the divorce.
The Feldman firm filed its answers to the suit Jan. 13 denying any negligence.
The law firm also claimed in its affirmative defenses that Sara Buske knew about the pre-nuptial agreement and did not disclose it herself.
The accounting firm has yet to answer the suit.
Sara Buske filed her answer to the Feldman firm's defenses denying that she knew about the document.
She also asks the court to dismiss the firm's affirmative defenses in the suit.
A case management conference is set in the case in late February.
Jarrod Beasley represents Sara Buske.
A.J. Bronsky represents the Feldman Firm.
Howard Feldman represented Sara Buske in the 2008 divorce.
Vicki Cochran represented Thomas Buske in the divorce.
Andrew Velloff and others represented S.C. Johnson.
Madison County Associate Judges Duane Bailey and Thomas Chapman
oversaw the Buske divorce.
Chapman presided over the settlement and post-settlement matters.
Madison County Circuit Judge Andreas Matoesian is assigned the 2010 lawsuit.
The case is Madison case number 10-L-1211.