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personpersonKristin AdamsonKristin AdamsonWendi Adelson's family law attorney, called as a defense witness in both trials.← All People
Witness

Kristin Adamson

Courtroom still of Kristin Adamson.

Wendi Adelson's family law attorney, called as a defense witness in both trials.

AppearedCharlie AdelsonDonna Adelson
231 lines·12 proceedings·6 mentions·2 trials

About

Kristin Adamson was Wendi Adelson’s former divorce attorney and testified for the defense about the family-law proceedings. She described the unsuccessful relocation request, settlement of the remaining divorce issues, and later enforcement litigation, including disputes over settlement payments and retirement-account records. She said Wendi understood that relocation was unlikely to be approved and appeared calm after the denial. Adamson also explained that she withdrew after later filings made her a likely witness, and she addressed the scope of her responsibility for pleadings prepared during the representation. She testified that Donna Adelson had not participated in her meetings or communications and that she had no knowledge of Donna drafting or editing Wendi’s filings.

Trial Record (12)

CACharlie AdelsonOct 26, 2023 – Nov 6, 2023Called by defense

Called by the defense on Day 5, Kristin Adamson testified about representing Wendi Adelson in the divorce proceedings, including the denied relocation request, later motions, filing timing, and retirement-account records.

Day 5

DirectKristin Adamson - DirectKristin AdamsonKathryn Meyers6highlights46lines spoken

Summary

Adamson gave family-law context for the relocation dispute and later divorce motions, described her advice to Wendi Adelson, and identified May 2 filings as afternoon documents.

Highlights (6)

testimony highlightAdamson testified that relocation requests were common but difficult to win, and that she advised Wendi Adelson the request was unlikely to succeed before filing it.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“And I think I've only actually won one that was allowed to relocate. They're very hard to do and you have to have pretty serious circumstances that would require the relocation.”— Kristin AdamsonAdamson characterized the difficulty of obtaining a relocation order from her family-law experience.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“I basically told my client that I wasn't concerned about the legal ramifications of this either regarding the claim of the fraud, because I know we had covered that really well in our discovery process and we had litigated it and I was not concerned about that.”— Kristin AdamsonAdamson described the advice she said she gave Wendi Adelson about a later motion's alleged fraud claim.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
testimony highlightAdamson testified that she withdrew as Wendi Adelson's counsel because she expected to become a witness, not because she believed she had done anything wrong.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Show all 6 highlights
rulingThe court limited Adamson to testimony about what she communicated to her client, excluding further opinions on the merits of the motion; Adamson then said she had communicated no concern about the alleged fraud or ethical consequences.Open in transcript →
CrossKristin Adamson - CrossKristin AdamsonGeorgia Cappleman4highlights16lines spoken

Summary

Adamson agreed the cited calls followed the May 2 filings, called the broader divorce case odd, and described minimal contact with Donna Adelson.

Highlights (4)

testimony highlightAdamson distinguished routine disagreements over the children from what she described as an odd case and said her contact with Donna Adelson was minimal.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“So those are two separate statements I think. I think that the quibbling about the children was run-of-the-mill. I think the case was odd.”— Kristin AdamsonAdamson distinguished ordinary child-related disputes from her broader characterization of the case.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“The only time I had any communication with wWendi's mother was at the relocation hearing that we had in June of 2013.”— Kristin AdamsonAdamson described the limited scope of her contact with Wendi Adelson's mother.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
RedirectKristin Adamson - RedirectKristin AdamsonKathryn Meyers2highlights10lines spoken

Summary

Adamson denied any asset-disclosure failure and described providing records for a disputed retirement account.

Highlights (2)

Quote“So it was kind of weird -- when I say the case was odd, what I mean is it's odd for the opposing party to make claims against me, to want me disbarred as well as his wife.”— Kristin AdamsonAdamson explained why she regarded the divorce litigation as unusual.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
DADonna AdelsonAug 22, 2025 – Sep 4, 2025Called by defense

Called by the defense on Day 8, Kristin Adamson described Wendi Adelson's unsuccessful relocation request, divorce settlement, and later enforcement litigation. She said she had no knowledge that Donna Adelson drafted or edited Wendi's court filings.

Day 2

Day 8

DirectKristin Adamson - DirectKristin AdamsonJoshua D. Zelman2highlights89lines spoken

Summary

Former family-law counsel described Wendi Adelson’s unsuccessful relocation request, the later settlement and enforcement dispute, and said Donna Adelson was not involved in her representation.

Highlights (2)

Quote“If you get divorced and then try to relocate afterwards, you're probably not going to win unless something really substantial comes up and changes it.”— Kristin AdamsonAdamson explained why she advised pursuing relocation during the initial divorce proceeding.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
rulingAfter Adamson said her client had waived mediation confidentiality, the court ordered her to testify about the subjects being asked about and allowed the State to cross-examine on them.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
CrossKristin Adamson - CrossKristin AdamsonSarah Kathryn Dugan2highlights50lines spoken

Summary

Adamson said she had no knowledge of Donna Adelson drafting or editing Wendi Adelson's filings and described the relocation dispute and later enforcement litigation with Dan Markel.

Highlights (2)

Quote“No, because I wouldn't have edited it based on that anyway. I mean, maybe they did, but I didn't do it, and I never heard about it.”— Kristin AdamsonAdamson distinguished what she personally knew from the prosecution's suggestion that Donna and Wendi may have edited filings together.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
testimony highlightAdamson said Donna and Harvey Adelson were kept outside the relocation hearing because they could have been witnesses, and described Wendi Adelson as upset but calm after agreeing to stipulate to the denial.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
RedirectKristin Adamson - RedirectKristin AdamsonJoshua D. Zelman2highlights20lines spoken

Summary

Adamson said she withdrew because she would be a witness and remained responsible for the pleadings she filed.

Highlights (2)

testimony highlightAdamson explained that she withdrew because she expected to be a witness concerning personal attacks in Markel's pleadings, not because the attacks themselves upset her.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“The only reason that I withdrew is because I was going to be a witness, not because I cared what he said about me.”— Kristin AdamsonAdamson distinguished her reason for withdrawing from any personal reaction to the pleadings.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶