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Rockets owner's divorce kept secret

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — The divorce of Leslie Alexander, billionaire owner of the Houston Rockets basketball team, is one of a handful of local divorces sealed and excised from public view for years as if it never existed.

In 2003, Alexander split with Nanci, his wife of more than 30 years, after agreeing to pay her $150 million. The couple asked that their entire divorce file be sealed, and a senior circuit judge, Allen Kornblum, obliged.

The order stood until last week when another circuit court judge, Art Wroble, ruled it was sealed improperly and ordered the Alexanders' divorce opened.

The ruling comes in the wake of reports about supersealed cases being kept around Florida, including divorces and civil suits of the rich and connected — contrary to the state's public records law and the spirit of openness at every courthouse door. Fred Lewis, chief justice of Florida's Supreme Court, has said he about swallowed his tongue when he heard the reports and is acting swiftly to change things.

Leslie Alexander is among the 400 richest people in the United States, according to a Forbes report this month that estimates his worth at $1.2 billion.

Alexander, 63, said Thursday he did not believe he had received special treatment. He and his former wife wanted their divorce confidential. When the lawyers asked if they wanted it sealed, of course, they said yes.

"Can't anybody do that?" Alexander said.

No. Florida judges can legally seal sensitive material, such as financial or medical information, but not entire divorce files without some kind of public notice, which did not happen in the Alexanders' case.

Nanci Alexander, 60, of Boca Raton, is a vocal animal-rights advocate and owner of gourmet a vegetarian restaurant, Sublime, in Fort Lauderdale.

She and her attorney, Marsha Elser, did not return calls for comment.

The Alexander divorce was one of 10 sealed divorces in Palm Beach County directed back to judges for review following an investigation by the chief justice this summer. Judge Kathleen Kroll reviewed a mish-mash of 43 cases — adoptions, divorces, etc. — kept entirely out of public view since 2001, ultimately deciding most were legitimately sealed.

Other divorces in question were those of a Broward County judicial candidate and a Boca Raton real estate investor who settled with his wife for $12.5 million, both of which have been unsealed. There also were divorces of working-class people, meting out small awards.

According to the Alexanders' divorce file, attorneys for Nanci Alexander aggressively tried to plumb how wealthy the Rockets owner really was. A prominent divorce attorney for Leslie Alexander, Joel Weissman, at one point asked that trade secrets and confidential research about the NBA team business be protected.

It is unclear exactly what the judge accepted as the legal reason to seal the file. Kornblum is deceased. And the key pieces of paper explaining such decisions are now missing from the public file.

"It's highly unusual," said the chief guardian of the court records, Clerk and Comptroller Sharon Bock. "Whenever a file or document is missing, it's of great concern to us."

Bock said "search protocols" are under way to try to find the missing materials. She speculated they may be in attorneys' files.

Weissman said it was routine to seal a divorce file when both parties agreed. Weissman said he was surprised, though, that the Alexander divorce was kept entirely out of public view.

Before the unsealing of the divorces, if a person entered the case number or the names of the parties, the clerk's computer system would indicate no case existed. The case numbers and names have since been restored.

Palm Beach County's situation pales in comparison to Broward County's. A Miami Herald investigation this year revealed more than 400 cases kept on a secret docket in Broward, including dozens of divorces and civil suits involving politicians, judges and lawyers.

Kroll said she soon expects directives from the Florida Supreme Court about sealing procedures. The high court is considering a dramatic and swift response: possibly requiring judges to hold hearings and give advance public notice before sealing a court case.

In the nascent proposals, judges around the state would have to explain in writing what information in a sealed court case is being kept from the public.

Weissman said he knew nothing of supersealed cases until reports in The Palm Beach Post this summer.

He was curious, though, how many of his cases had landed on the controversial list in question.

"Do I have only one case on there?" he asked. "Seems kind of minuscule to me."

The settlement

According to a 2003 settlement agreement, Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander was ordered to give ex-wife Nanci Bonnie Alexander $150 million. The amount was divided as follows:

— $115 million in cash, $40 million once the divorce was final and $75 million to be paid over three years in $25 million installments.

— $35 million in assets including the couple's home in Boca Raton, investment accounts, certificates of deposit, jewelry, cars and Sublime, a vegetarian restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.

Nanci Alexander also was awarded for three years beginning in 2003:

— $83,000 a month in alimony.

— Four courtside tickets to six home games a year played by both the Houston Rockets and the Houston Comets, a WNBA franchise.

— Four owner's tickets to a Rockets game against the Heat in Miami.

— Free accounting services for the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida.

In another part of the agreement, Nanci Alexander had to split 600 bottles of wine with Leslie Alexander, giving him 100 bottles a year each time he paid an installment on the $75 million.

Susan Spencer-Wendel writes for The Palm Beach Post. Post researchers Melanie Mena and Lisa Kreutter contributed to this story.