The first wife of a high-powered Manhattan lawyer has filed a lawsuit against his second wife accusing her of duping the terminally ill man into marrying her and changing his will as he lay dying from cancer.

Debra Karlstein, the former spouse of Herman 'Hank' Goldsmith, a partner at the renowned white-shoe law firm Proskauer Rose LLP, claims that her successor, Deborah Lee-Goldsmith, has cheated her three children out of a $1.5million inheritance.

According to the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Surrogate Court, Hank Goldsmith was a 'man with many demons,' including addiction to cocaine, pills, alcohol, pornography, strippers and prostitutes, as well as nicotine patches and 'sugary treats.'

But in an interview with The New York Post, Ms Karlstein, a prominent lawyer in her own right, said that her ex-husband was a good father to their three sons.

The couple split up in 2010 after a rocky marriage, during which the highly respected lawyer allegedly frittered away hundreds of thousands of dollars on drugs, strip clubs and pornography.

A year after the Goldsmiths' divorce was finalized, Hank Goldsmith met and began dating Deborah Lee, a native of Zimbabwe.

In September 2012, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and only a month later Goldsmith tied the knot with Lee.

In January 2013, the terminally ill man was hospitalized after contracting pneumonia, and according to his first wife, that is when Deborah Lee jumped into action, inviting a team of lawyers from Proskauer to the emergency room to change his will in a manner that benefited her at the expense of his children.

Mr Goldsmith passed away in June 2013 after a year-long battle with cancer.  

On her part, Deborah Lee-Goldsmith has sued Debra Karlstein for $155,000, which is the amount Karlstein owed her ex-husband to buy him out of their $2.3million apartment on West 72nd Street.

Under Mr Goldsmith’s revised will, his 10-year-old twins and 14-year-old son have been provided with a $3.75million life insurance policy.

Hank Goldsmith graduated from Georgetown University law school in 1987 and went on to a successful career as a top litigator.

He joined Proskauer two years out of law school, and in 2007 he made partner, handling intellectual property, real estate and appeals cases.

He gained notoriety in the early 2000s by representing the recording industry in a copyright case against Napster.

In his free time, the $775,000-a-year lawyer sang and played bass guitar in several cover bands, performing songs by Tom Petty, The Cars and The Beatles.

The resume of Hank Goldsmith’s first wife is equally impressive.

Debra Karlstein, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, obtained her law degree from the prestigious New York University Law School.

After working as a litigator for nearly two decades, she was hired in 2012 as managing director of compliance at the BNY Mellon investment bank.

Proskauer spokeswoman Somna Majar released a statement to MailOnline Monday addressing Debra Karlstein's lawsuit.

'Hank Goldsmith was a‎ brilliant trial and appellate lawyer, representing clients with distinction in many important and precedent-setting cases.

'He loved the practice of law, the Firm, his clients and his family, and the feeling was mutual. We are saddened by this unwarranted attempt to tarnish Hank’s reputation.'