Wedding Litigation

An Update on Chicago’s Runaway Bridegroom and Jilted Bride

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Lauren Serafin and Robert Leighton

Chicago sounds like a tough town for romance. Check out the first Courtship Connection date that went down in the Windy City. Let’s hope that future dates go better.

Chitown was also the venue for Serafin v. Leighton. In this lawsuit, a lovely young lawyer, Lauren Serafin, sued her handsome ex-fiancé, Sidley Austin associate Robert Leighton, for “breach of promise” to marry. Serafin alleged that Leighton cheated on her during his Las Vegas bachelor party, with a woman named “Danielle,” and then broke off the engagement — saddling Serafin with almost $63,000 in wedding- and honeymoon-related expenses.

We now bring you an update on this saga….

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‘No Dress for You!’ A New Jersey Bridal Boutique Goes ‘Gown Nazi’ on a Lesbian Bride-to-Be

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Last week, I referenced my boyfriend when writing about marriage. Today, I’m writing about marriage again, but now I get to reference my fiancé. Seriously, how cool is that?

I’m extremely excited about our engagement, but being a future bride is a tough job (even for someone with a Type A personality). There are just so many things involved in planning a wedding. We’re talking about things like the venue, the flowers, the band, the dress… good lord, especially the dress! The dress is actually my number one priority right now; in fact, in order to avoid looking like the Stay Puft marshmallow bride, I hired a personal trainer.

But now that I’m a member of the bridal class of 2012 (or 2013, we shall see), I can commiserate with the woes of my fellow brides-to-be. And in this case, I can’t even begin to imagine what I would do if I was denied the dress of my dreams simply based on the person I chose to love….

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Lawsuit of the Day: Jilted Lawyer Bride Sues Sidley Associate for Wedding Expenses

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Robert Leighton

Associates in the Chicago office of Sidley Austin seem to be doing a lot of walking these days. Last week, for example, bankruptcy associate Tyler Coulson announced that he was leaving the firm in order to walk across the country with his dog.

Today we bring you the tale of Sidley IP associate Robert Leighton, who apparently walked out on his fiancée, Lauren Serafin. But Serafin didn’t take the diss lying down.

Lauren Serafin is also a lawyer, so what did she do? She sued him, of course. Her suit for “breach of promise” seeks $62,814.71 in wedding and honeymoon expenses.

And it makes some lurid allegations about Leighton. Let’s take a closer look at the lawsuit — and the ex-bride behind it, who’s rather attractive….

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An Update on Hydrangea-gate and Little Miss Party Pants

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Lots of good stuff in the comments to our Lawsuit of the Day. It’s well on its way to becoming an official Comments Clusterf**k. This comment might be our favorite:

Wedding flowers: $27,000.

Damages sought for wrong color wedding flowers: $400,000.

Being delinquent in your attorney registration, while filing a public lawsuit on your own behalf: Priceless

It appears to be true. From the New York State Attorney Registration site:
Elana Beth Elbogen Elana B Elbogen Elana Glatt Kelley Drye Warren LLP Above the Law blog.jpg
Maybe Elana Glatt should spend more time attending CLE courses and less time suing florists. We recommend the City Bar class on Service, Therapy, & Emotional Support Animals (which we once sat through, even though it had nothing to do with our practice, ’cause we were desperate for CLE credits).
But Elana “Party Pants” Glatt, predictably dubbed “Bridezilla” by many of you, has her defenders. Read on, after the jump.

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Lawsuit of the Day: More Floral Litigation

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Elana Elbogen Elana Glatt Kelley Drye Warren LLP Above the Law blog.jpgFlowers are pretty. They smell nice. So why do they keep leading to lawsuits?
First we had Leroy Greer’s lawsuit against 1-800-FLOWERS. And now we get this, from the AP:

The wedding was lovely, except for the flowers: They were the wrong color.

So says the bride, Elana Glatt, who was so miffed at the florist that she filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract.

She says Posy Floral Design on East 72nd Street substituted pastel pink and green hydrangeas for the dark rust and green ones she had specified for 22 centerpieces.

Not only that, the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, alleges that the hydrangeas were wilted and brown, and arranged in dusty vases without enough water.

The lawsuit says the offenses caused “extreme disappointment, distress and embarrassment.”

Every rose has its thorn. Read the rest, including a discussion of damages and an ATL reader poll, after the jump.

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