Venable partner Bob Waldman was quoted in a March 16, 2017, Boston Globe article on a suit over a charitable gift to a Massachusetts college by the ex-wife of the donor. Following a successful business career, Bob Foisie, a graduate of the school, donated nearly $63 million to school making him its largest benefactor. This month, his ex-wife sued the school alleging that some of the donations included assets he hid from her during their divorce in an offshore account. She claims that by hiding the assets, she accepted a smaller settlement than she would have had she known about the account.
Waldman called the circumstances around the case "really tricky." He said most states have laws preventing people from hiding assets which are intended to avoid situations where "someone gets divorced or goes bankrupt, creditors come knocking on his door, and he says, 'Sorry, I gave it to charity.'" However "if courts start holding innocent charities responsible for something that happens to the donor down the road, or something they didn't know about the donor then charities would be afraid to take the gift in the first place out of fear that it might be taken back later," he added.