Patricia Herzog

Who was Patricia Herzog?

Patricia Herzog, born Patricia Reid Chamberlain, was a lawyer in the landmark Sullivan case which prompted the legislature of California to amend its marital property law to take into consideration expenses made for the support of spouses.

Herzog, a newspaper reporter living in Santa Ana, decided to change her career to law after reading a matchbook ad in the early 1950s. She signed up for mail-order law classes through the La Salle Extension University in Chicago. In 1957 she passed the bar, and in 1960 set up her own practice.

The New York Times described the start of her landmark case:

One day in 1978, Janet Sullivan walked into Ms. Herzog's office and said that she and her husband, Mark, who had just graduated from medical school, were getting a divorce. Ms. Sullivan insisted that her work as an accountant during the marriage meant that her husband's medical degree had been a "joint investment in time and money....Ms. Sullivan sought a share of the value of her husband's medical practice as part of the divorce settlement. "

After the lower courts ruled against her, Herzog filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of California.