Libbie Mugrabi will rep herself in reopened divorce with David

The ex-wife of billionaire art scion David Mugrabi instructed a choose that she now strategies to signify herself in the protracted divorce fight — just after her divorce attorney begged off of the case citing issue working with his client.

“I’m heading to depict myself in this scenario,” Libbie Mugrabi, 41, advised a decide in the course of a video listening to past week. “I find that the attorneys are not … in my most effective interest or my children’s.”

Previously in the listening to, Libbie’s attorney Kenneth Jewell questioned to be allow off the case saying that he has had a hard time receiving a maintain of his customer and functioning with her on the couple of events he was able to discuss with her. He also claimed she owes him about $17,000.

“Well, Ms. Mugrabi hadn’t been responding to e-mail and phone calls that I experienced been building to her since July,” Jewell advised the judge throughout the Sept. 2 hearing. “On a couple of occasions … I was either hung up on or I could not get her to emphasis on the dilemma that I experienced in order to reply to things.”

Manhattan Supreme Court docket Justice Douglas Hoffman pressed Libbie various times on whether or not she agreed to her law firm withdrawing from the circumstance — just before eventually nailing her down.

“I questioned Mr. Jewell to withdraw,” she reported, right before sooner or later declaring that she would characterize herself.

“I’ve authorized your attorney to withdraw as your counsel,” Hoffman afterwards explained. “You’ve gone via this multiple times prior to.”

The New York socialite reopened the bitter divorce situation in June — just a yr right after settling — professing that David had deliberately destroyed two items of artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol that he was purchased to change more than to her, to reduce their $16 million value.

She claimed she’s now gone through 7 attorneys because the nasty court struggle started.

When Hoffman requested if David’s attorney, John Teitler, experienced an objection to his ex-spouse symbolizing herself, he said he wanted to just get on with the make any difference.

“We really don’t want any even further delays,” Teitler explained to the decide in court.

“Since the make a difference was settled, there have been a revolving doorway of lawyers [peddling] these baseless claims and these incorrect assertions of weakened art.”

“So prolonged as the [case] dates really don’t slide, and this doesn’t switch into some type of circus, then we should really commence,” Teitler included, inquiring that Libbie be held to the same common as any other law firm.

Libbie and Teitler received into a heated trade later on on in the continuing.

“Mrs. Mugrabi has designed various threats, has engaged in harassing carry out, some of which we’ve outlined,” Teitler said.

Libbie minimize in: “This is not true” — prompting the choose to remind her to not interrupt.

“He has to halt speaking bad about me in the courtroom. This isn’t own,” Libbie responded.

In an job interview Thursday, Libbie dredged up the operate of her preceding lawyers, professing “they had been functioning on the completely wrong facet of the case” and that a single of them “tricked” her into signing a negative divorce offer.

“I have a lot of much better items to do with my cash than enjoy a cockamamie match with my attorney,” she stated. “I’d somewhat assist individuals with my cash by way of my charity work.”

Libbie also observed that her grandmother was one particular of the very first woman criminal protection lawyers in New York, which she mentioned offers her a leg up in repping herself.

When questioned if she experienced any expertise in the authorized area, she stated she was educated in “the university of life” and famous she’d been duking it out in courtroom with David for four years.

Requested for comment, Jewell mentioned, “The only factor I would increase is that notwithstanding how the illustration finally worked out, that I do, in the conclusion, want her only the greatest as she proceeds with her case.”

Teitler did not promptly return a ask for for comment.