Angelina Jolie Scores Victory Over Brad Pitt Divorce After Court Disqualifies Judge for Committing "Ethical Breach"

Angelina Jolie has won custody of her and ex-husband Brad Pitt's six children in a court fight. Judge John W. Ouderkirk, a private judge, has been disqualified from handling the actress's divorce case with her ex-husband Brad Pitt, according to a California judge.

Jolie requested that Ouderkirk be removed from the case due to his past relationship with Pitt's attorney Anne C. Kiley and his failure to disclose the number of cases they had previously worked on together. Jolie's original request to have Ouderkirk removed from the scene was denied last fall, and Pitt was allowed "far more time" with his children early this summer.

Judge John Ouderkirk disqualified in Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt divorce case

This means that the child custody case, which was thought to be nearly done, has been thrown out, and a new one will have to be set up. The specifics of the now-defunct custody arrangement were not made public, as per The Independent.

Pitt's lawyers issued a statement in response to the court's approval of Jolie's motion, claiming that the case was dismissed due to a "technical procedural problem" and that Jolie was attempting to destroy the previously agreed-upon custody arrangement.

According to an attorney representing Angelina Jolie, the judge was aware of the regulations and simply disobeyed them when it came to the court judgment on July 23. Judge John Ouderkirk neglected to reveal his financial links with Pitt's attorneys in a timely manner, causing questions about his impartiality, according to the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 15, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 12, are their other children. The couple had already been divorced by the judge, but the child custody issues had been separated. The state Supreme Court can hear an appeal of Friday's decision, but Pitt would have to be granted permission, which isn't assured.

Pitt's lawyer backfires, saying the disqualification was a delaying tactic

According to USA Today, Pitt's lawyer, Ted Boutrous said the effort at disqualification was a delaying tactic by Jolie to prevent Ouderkirk's recent provisional custody judgment, which is favorable to Pitt, from taking effect. Brent Kaspar, a divorce lawyer in the San Francisco Bay Area said what happens next is likely to be determined by Pitt.

Pitt's attorneys will have to take his case to a public judge in family court unless the two parties can agree on a new private judge to hear the custody case. In either situation, a final resolution is postponed, perhaps allowing at least some of the older children to reach old age.

Jolie's attempt to reject joint custody will fail even if a new judge is appointed, whether public or private, according to Los Angeles family law attorney Christopher Melcher. Pitt and Jolie, like many other prominent couples, retained their own judge to ensure their privacy throughout the almost four-year-long divorce proceedings. Ouderkirk was the judge they picked to marry them in 2014.

When Angelina Jolie requested him to disqualify himself in a filing in August, Ouderkirk declined. A lower court judge ruled that Jolie's request for disqualification was made too late. The attorneys for Angelina Jolie then filed an appeal.

On July 9, the appeals court heard oral arguments to see if Ouderkirk followed ethical rules strictly enough by promptly revealing new business dealings. Private judges in California are usually retired superior court justices with links to the county's legal community.

Jolie's appeal to the judge was "game-playing," Boutrous said. He described Jolie as a clever lady with excellent attorneys who had known about the matters that required Ouderkirk's disclosure for a long time but did not object until she began losing in his court.

However, the court's recent ruling might imply that the former couple's custody fight will be reconsidered. Pitt, who has never had shared custody of their children, is likely to revert to whatever custody agreement they had in place before to the temporary judgment now that the temporary order has been overturned, as per ET Online.