Information Bargaining Power

In divorce, one of the most powerful bargaining tools in settlement negotiations is one party's nervousness about certain information, either personal or financial, becoming public knowledge. Sometimes a person doesn't want parents, friends, co-workers or the general public to know about extra-marital affairs, drug abuse, or other personal issues and settle their case as a way to keep damaging information out of the wrong hands. In other cases, a person agrees to settle their case in order to get out of having quasi-criminal financial information disclosed to the court or public. This seems to be the case for L. Dennis Kozlowski, former CEO of Tyco International. He is currently serving jail time for embezzling funds from the company, and now, based on the break down of divorce settlement negotiations, may have his assets disclosed for all the world to see. I certainly don't suggest using low handed or dirty tricks to get what you want in a divorce, but I do encourage everyone to look at the big picture and determine the cost benefit analysis of taking your case before a judge.

If you would like to read the latest concerning L. Dennis Kozlowski, see: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=azV5_TLixixU&refer=news