Frank McCourt meets with divorce mediator

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Frank McCourt met Wednesday with the mediator working to help settle the divorce case that has put the ownership of the Dodgers into question.

Frank and Jamie McCourt had concluded a second round of mediation last week without reaching a settlement. Frank met for about 90 minutes Wednesday with the mediator, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Lichtman. Jamie was not present.

Lichtman has asked the McCourts not to comment on the specifics of mediation, so it is uncertain whether Wednesday’s meeting indicates any movement toward a settlement.

In the absence of a settlement, Judge Scott Gordon has until Dec. 28 to rule whether Frank is the sole owner of the Dodgers, based on a 2004 agreement between the McCourts. Jamie has asked Gordon to throw out the agreement.

If Gordon does so, Frank already has notified the court that he plans to seek a second trial, this one to argue that the Dodgers are his sole property because he bought them using a company he established before the McCourts married.

In addition, the inability to reach a settlement would trigger a separate hearing on permanent spousal support. In May, Gordon ordered Frank to pay Jamie $637,159 per month on a temporary basis, pending the hearing on permanent support.

-- Bill Shaikin