Jamie McCourt has no plans of giving up ownership involvement

The lawyer for Dodgers’ chief executive officer Jamie McCourt said Thursday that his client has no plans of surrendering her ownership involvement with the Dodgers or her position with the club.

Jamie McCourt, who confirmed her separation from Dodgers owner Frank McCourt on Wednesday, is the highest ranking woman in Major League Baseball.

Her lawyer, Dennis M. Wasser, said that his client had chosen to publicly respond because Frank McCourt’s lawyer, Marshall Grossman, had made public statements about the situation late Wednesday night.

“We are disappointed that Mr. McCourt’s attorney has chosen to express legal positions in the press, in violation of the parties’ specific agreement not to make any public statements about this private matter,” Wasser said.

“Jamie McCourt had desired to just focus on the Dodgers’ success in postseason play. However Jamie and her attorneys now feel she must briefly respond.”

Wasser said that he disagreed with Grossman’s statement that Frank McCourt is the sole owner of the Dodgers and that, “We are confident that if the ownership issue must be adjudicated, the Dodgers will be determined to be community property owned 50 percent by each of the McCourts.”

That determination would be at the heart of any dispute of community property, should the couple divorce.

California law holds that a divorce asset be divided 50-50 between the two parties, which is problematic with a major league baseball franchise that must, by league rule, have only one controlling owner.

A similar situation led to the sale of the San Diego Padres in February, when owner John Moores sold the team as part of a divorce settlement with his wife Becky.