Successful and well-known architect Lucien Lagrange worked alongside wife Jessica Lagrange, who ran her own interior design practice, until he filed for divorce last October, as reported by the Sun-Times. But his recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which throws a financial monkey wrench into the divorce proceedings, has made his estranged wife very suspicious.
His firm, Lagrange Architects Ltd., cites debts between $1 million and $10 million and assets in the same general range. He claims a lack new contracts and unpaid commission for work in Saudi Arabia have led him to bankruptcy.
But Eunice Ward, Jessica Lagrange's divorce attorney in Chicago, said the bankruptcy filing was a complete surprise for her and her client. She said they are "investigating the filing" and what impact it will have on the divorced proceedings.
Lucien Lagrange also expressed his intentions of protecting personal assets from creditors, a typical motive for most legitimate bankruptcy filings. Reporters asked him if he was also trying to shield assets from his wife, eliciting the following response:
"I wish I had assets."
He reiterated how the recession has sunk his business and that his last assignment was more than one year ago. And although he said he agreed to share his financial records with Jessica Lagrange, court records tell a different story. His lawyers have said that her subpoenas for those records caused "unreasonable annoyance and expense" to the firm.
In response, Lucien Lagrange said the Chicago family law attorneys from his wife's law firm are "pretty vicious, frankly." But some may argue that sometimes a little viciousness is needed to get things done.
Jessica Lagrange declined to comment for the story and only sent an email stating that Jessica Lagrange Interiors LLC is wholly independent of her husband's business.
Related Resources:
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Looking for Hidden Assets (FindLaw)
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Contact an Illinois Family Law Attorney (FindLaw)
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The Intersection of Divorce and Bankruptcy (FindLaw's KnowledgeBase)
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