Biglaw Associate Accused In 'Three-Year Reign Of Terror' Against Ex-Girlfriend

You've got to see the rest of his ex-girlfriend's claims to believe them....

If you work for a white-shoe firm, don’t let your messy personal life make scuff marks on your fancy footwear. For example, if you were to decide to stalk your ex-girlfriend, then you’d need to keep it on the down low. You can’t just toss a dog tracker into her purse, take creepy pictures of her while she sleeps, get sued for $4 million, and expect the resulting lawsuit to get ignored by the tabloids.

These are just some of the allegations lodged against an Ivy League associate who hails from a successful Am Law 100 firm. You’ve got to see the rest of his ex-girlfriend’s claims to believe them….

Please note the UPDATES to this post, found below.

Samir Tabar, a graduate of Oxford University who received his LL.M. at Columbia Law School, has been working as an associate at Schulte Roth & Zabel since October, according to his LinkedIn profile. He dabbled in investment banking for a few years at Sparx Asia and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, but had worked previously at Skadden Arps from June 2001 to June 2004.

His ex-girlfriend, Angela Kovalesky, described as a “blonde bombshell” by the New York Post, alleges in her suit that she met Tabar in December 2010, and endured an “emotionally and physically abusive” relationship with him through much of last year. She claims that her ex-beau’s bad behavior stems from “his unfounded jealousy, paranoia, insecurity and experience as a child.” Ouch, that’s a harsh assessment — one that could probably be used to describe many, if not most, Biglaw associates’ psyches.

According to the Post, Tabar once hit Kovalesky, before allegedly threatening her with a knife. Here are some additional allegations from Kovalesky’s suit that seem like they belong on DontDateHimGirl.com:

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[Tabar] sent her a constant stream of harassing text messages and emails, promising “dire consequences” if she didn’t talk to him, the papers say.

He also made threats against her family and “place of business alleging false and defamatory matters such as drug addiction,” according to the suit.

Listen, you can’t go around promising “dire consequences” if someone doesn’t respond to your texts and emails. Good Lord, you’re an associate, not a partner. Nobody has to CHECK YOU EMAILS OFTEN, especially if the only reason you’ve allegedly sent them was to “threaten and intimidate” the recipient.

Kovalesky claims Tabar later trashed her designer coat — she says it cost $2,000 — and “destroyed her purse.” Nobody messes with a woman’s accessories without suffering the consequences:

[On February 27, 2013], Kovalesky filed a criminal complaint against Tabar, which prompted the attorney to plead guilty to [a disorderly conduct charge] in Kings County Criminal Court [on August 11, 2013].

If the allegations here turn out to be true, then good for her. Many women remain in abusive relationships without any police intervention, where their abusers continue to torment them. But then again, if all the allegations here are true, then we’ve got some advice we hope Angela Kovalesky will take to heart.

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Girl, get a restraining order. This seems like it’s been scripted for an episode of Law & Order: SVU.

UPDATE (2/06/2014): After this post was originally published, the New York Post updated its own article, adding many additional details about Kovalesky’s case. It seems that the day before she filed her criminal complaint against Tabar, he allegedly sent her several menacing text messages (e.g., “I will be teaching you a lesson” and “there are some people in this world you just do your best not to cross”). That’s… scary.

Kovalesky claims she did get restraining orders against Tabar, but that he “repeatedly” violated them. At one point, Kovalesky alleges that her Biglaw ex-boyfriend even went so far as to “dictate what he wanted [her] to say on the witness stand” in her criminal case against him.

Tabar was removed from Schulte’s website when news of Kovalesky’s suit hit the news. You go, SRZ.

Tabar’s lawyer, Justin Sher of Sher Tremonte (formerly of Davis Polk and Kobre & Kim), claims Kovalesky’s suit is “frivolous” and contains “multiple falsehoods.” He maintains that his client’s relationship with the blonde bombshell was a brief one, and that she had “a history” of drug abuse.

Kovalesky’s lawyer, James M. Ingoglia of Raiser & Kenniff, issued the following statement on her behalf:

“As our complaint details, Ms. Kovalesky is taking action to end her victimization. Mr. Tabar instituted a campaign of harassment, as well as physical, mental, and emotional intimidation. His retaliation against Ms. Kovalesky for ending the cycle of abuse was unconscionable, and she is demanding that he be held accountable for his actions.”

Seeing as Kovalesky’s restraining orders have allegedly done her no good, here’s some advice from one of our Above the Law commenters: “Girl, get a gun. Oh, wait, NYC — my bad. Girl, get a big f**king knife.”

UPDATE (2/07/2014): Samir Tabar is no longer employed at Schulte Roth & Zabel. A representative from SRZ had this to say: “Mr. Tabar had been on leave and now no longer works for the firm.” In addition, his license to practice law was suspended on November 20, 2013, for failure to pay his registration fees.

If you’re interested in reading the complaint, it’s available on the next page.

UPDATE (3/24/2014, 7:40 p.m.): Samir Tabar claims that Angela Tovalesky is the true stalker and abuser; read more here.