Shelly Sterling’s attorney for Clippers’ sale files for bankruptcy

Pierce O’Donnell, the veteran attorney who represented Shelly Sterling in the record $2-billion sale of the Clippers, filed for bankruptcy last month, according to court records.

The move in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles came eight days after former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer closed on his purchase of the Clippers.

“This is an unfortunate personal matter,” O’Donnell said Wednesday in an email to the Los Angeles Times. “The filing is the unavoidable consequence of my divorce. Now my goal is to move forward with my life and career.”

O’Donnell led Sterling through a protracted court fight against her husband, Donald, over the future of the Clippers. Shelly Sterling won a decisive victory in July when Judge Michael Levanas ruled in Los Angeles County Superior Court that she could sell the franchise and granted an unusual order that prevented the transaction from being overturned on appeal.

In the bankruptcy filing, O’Donnell listed $7.4 million in liabilities, including more than $2 million owed to his former wife, against $118,500 in assets. That included $2,000 cash on hand and a 2011 Nissan Maxima valued at $20,000.

Radar Online first reported the bankruptcy.

The filing noted that O’Donnell’s monthly salary at the Greenberg Glusker law firm is $32,500 versus $48,749 in monthly expenses. His debts include more than $1 million owed to the Internal Revenue Service and $140,000 to crisis manager Mike Sitrick.

Twitter: @nathan fenno