Lawyer’s Lover Ordered to Pay $9M in Alienation of Affection Case
A woman accused of having an affair with a lawyer has been ordered to pay $9 million in an alienation-of-affections lawsuit filed by his wife.
The defendant, Anne Lundquist, says she will appeal the verdict, the Greensboro News & Record reports. Lundquist did not attend the trial in North Carolina and did not hire a lawyer to represent her.
“I don’t have a lot of money, so where this $9 million comes from is kind of hysterical,” she told the newspaper.
North Carolina is one of only a few states that allow lawsuits for alienation of affections, the story says. On average, more than 200 lawsuits based on the tort are filed each year in the state.
The plaintiff, Cynthia Shackelford, claimed she and her husband, lawyer Allan Shackelford, were still in love when Lundquist broke up their marriage, the Greensboro News & Record reports in a prior story. She said her husband met Lundquist while providing legal services for Guilford College, where Lundquist was the dean of campus life. Lundquist, however, maintains the Shackelfords’ marriage was broken before her relationship began with the lawyer.
Allan Shackelford now lives with Lundquist in Aurora, N.Y., where she is the dean of students at Wells College, the newspaper says. The Schackelfords’ divorce is not yet final.
“I really loved him, and I really thought he loved me,” Cynthia Shackelford told the News & Record. “I had not a clue that Allan would wander. He kept telling me ‘Oh, she’s just a friend. There’s no affair. I love you.’ ”
