Cars, Kids, Lawyer of the Day

Mommy Lawyer of the Day: Kaye Scholer Partner Leaves Bickering Kids

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Madlyn Primoff, a partner in the bankruptcy and business reorganization group at Kaye Scholer, left her two daughters by the side of the road in White Plains. According to the New York Daily News:

A prominent Park Avenue lawyer was arrested after cops said she got so angry at her young daughters that she kicked them out of her car – and drove off.

Madlyn Primoff apparently couldn’t bear any more squabbling between her 10- and 12-year-old daughters Sunday and booted them out of the car in White Plains, Westchester County, authorities said.

A threat doesn’t carry much weight if you’re not willing to back it up, right? A tipster quips:

So maybe I won’t apply to Kaye Scholer … if their partners are this crazy.

But the 12-year-old demonstrated the dedication required of a future Kaye Scholer associate. She ran after her mother’s car, caught up to it, and got back in. You can’t stealth layoff that kid!

Unfortunately, the 10-year-old went to pieces:

The younger daughter wandered around the corner to Mamaroneck Ave., where a good Samaritan spotted her in tears about 7:30 p.m., bought her ice cream and then approached a cop in a patrol car.

The officer described the girl as “very upset” and “emotional” in the police report.

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More discussion — including information about Madlyn Primoff’s $2 million home in Scarsdale, and a reader poll — after the jump.


So where exactly were these children “abandoned?” Madlyn Primoff received her law degree from Columbia, but it’s not like she left her kids in Morningside Heights. She dropped them off in downtown White Plains, the county seat of tony Westchester County.

Take a look at Primoff’s 3,500 square foot home and surrounding neighborhood, in upscale Scarsdale:

That’s what you can afford when you are a partner at a firm that pulls in over $1.5 million in profits per partner (based on 2007 numbers; expect the 2008 numbers to look similar).

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According to the New York Post, the kids were three miles from home when they were removed from the vehicle. Primoff has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

Primoff’s husband, Richard, is an attorney for the SEC and a graduate of Harvard Law School. He wasn’t in the car when the incident occurred.

Kaye Scholer’s managing partner, Barry Willner, doesn’t seem to want anything to do with this mess:

Barry Willner, managing partner of Kaye Scholer, said in a statement, “Madlyn Primoff is a very well-respected partner at our firm, and we consider this matter to be personal and private.”

But are Primoff’s actions defensible? How many parents want to kick their children out of the car? How many parents actually do kick their kids out of the car, but we never hear about it, because the kids have survival instincts and run after the vehicle?

Take our poll below. What kind of parenting techniques do Above the Law readers respect?

NY lawyer charged with misdemeanor after leaving her bickering daughters on the side of the road [New York Daily News]

MOTHER CHUCKER [New York Post]

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