Dominic Barbara, the lawyer representing Richard Batista, the Long Island surgeon who is asking for $1.5 mil from his wife (better known as the value of the kidney he donated to her) as part of their divorce settlement, enjoys a dramatic case, and his performance with the Kidney Couple has been plenty theatrical. Yesterday in court, he called his client “godlike” for his donation and agitated to have the wife, Dawnell, “incarcerated,” for instance. “This is not ‘let’s be friends time,’” he quipped. “It’s not ‘Let’s Make a Deal time.’” And the priceless idea of valuing the kidney in the first place? That was, of course, Barbara’s own, the Daily News tells us today. What kind of brilliant, twisted person would come up with such a thing? After the jump, we’ve prepared a small dossier on Barbara that we think will tell you exactly what kind.
Client List: Joey and Mary Jo Buttafuoco, Jessica Hahn, Michael Lohan.
Relationship History: In 2007, Barbara divorced, remarried, and then re-divorced his wife, fellow divorce lawyer Leslie Barbara. During an altercation, she once broke a plate of spaghetti over his head. Today’s “Page Six” reports that Barbara is dating Stacy Geller, whose ex-husband, Sheldon, he represented in their divorce case. Apparently, Barbara’s tongue-lashings in court felt like a kiss. She is helping him with “public relations” on the kidney case.
Side Gig: Makes frequent appearances on Howard Stern’s radio show as “the bloated attorney.”
Sketchy Past: Allegedly accepted $100,000 from drug-dealer John Nebel, a drug trafficker who was convicted of running marijuana-delivery service the Cartoon Network in 2005, for “legal fees.” Had to pay it back when a court found that “no legal services were performed.”
Notable Quotable: “I am literally bigger than life,” he once told Newsday. “The reputation is that if you try a case with me I’m going to — kill you.”
Fool in Love [NYP]
Couple’s Kids Are the Real Victims in Kidney Mudslinging War [NYDN]
