Lawyer Laura Wasser reveals why March is the celeb divorce busy-season

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Of all of the famous LA lawyers, I think Laura Wasser has always seemed like the coolest. She’s easily the most famous divorce lawyer in the world, with a client list that includes Britney Spears, Heidi Klum, Angelina Jolie, Jessica Simpson, Brian Grazer, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Maria Shriver, Spike Jonze, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Garner and Mel Gibson’s ex-wife Robyn, and many, many more. She’s got a reputation for being discreet, “cool,” friendly, hip and calm. She tells her clients the hard truths they don’t want to hear, and most of the time they respect her for it. Anyway, Wasser sat down for an excellent profile with Bloomberg News, and I would totally recommend reading the full piece here. But the highlights are pretty excellent too:

Her busy season: She’s working on “45 cases now, many of them divorces. Several will be filed in March, after the Oscars; her clients don’t want to walk the red carpet alone.”

Being called in to tell rich young women about pre-nups: “A lot of times what will happen, particularly with young women, is they don’t want a prenup. They’re in love. This is fantasy time—‘We’re never going to get divorced, and I don’t want anybody, certainly not some old guy in a suit, telling me how it’s going to work out.’ So they bring me in. We have the conversation… I mean, love, honor, and obey—OK, fine, whatever. But the point is the minute you get married in the state of California, every dollar you earn, every page of that novel you write, every painting you paint is communal property. It’s half-owned by your spouse.”

Client complaints: One of Wasser’s wealthiest clients likes to complain that when she has custody of her two kids on the weekend, it’s too much work. “I’m like, ‘That sounds like every weekend to me,’ ” Wasser says. “ ‘Also, you have no job.’ ” She once talked another client out of initiating a custody battle because her ex-husband fed a hamburger to their vegan child. “Vegans, man”—Wasser rolls her eyes. “I’m sorry, but no judge is going to take away custody because you gave the kid In-N-Out.”

The best time to file a celebrity divorce: The best time to file a divorce petition used to be Friday afternoon, she says, because news outlets weren’t paying close attention. Now her only reprieve comes right before a holiday weekend. She files in branch offices when she can (“Santa Barbara is great”), because, she says, their clerks leak fewer documents. She urges clients to tell their spouse that they’re filing for divorce so they don’t find out about it from the news. “The turnaround is so fast,” Wasser says. “I have to tell my clients, ‘OK, the courier is filing it today. OK, he’s in line to file. OK, it’s filed. It will be on TMZ within an hour.’ ”

Media strategy/divorce strategy: When Wasser has several clients she knows will wind up on the cover of Us Weekly no matter what she does, she submits their cases together, so media attention will be diluted. “I’ll tell my clients, ‘I have someone else, I can’t say who, but you should really wait and file at the same time,’ ” she says. “Why all the celebrity divorces lately?” USA Today asked in August, pointing to the timing of Gwen Stefani’s breakup with Gavin Rossdale and Jennifer Garner’s split from Ben Affleck. Stefani and Garner are both Wasser’s clients.

[From Bloomberg]

After her first marriage ended in divorce, Wasser has chosen to just do “long-term, live-in boyfriends.” She has two sons with two different fathers, and she tells Bloomberg that the custodial arrangements with both men are verbal, nothing on paper. Which is crazy, right? She says: “I don’t want to get married. I don’t like the idea of entering into that contract.” Doing what she does for a living, I can’t blame her. And now I’m obsessed with knowing who will be getting divorced this month now that the Oscar season is over. If Wasser is representing them, they’re probably high-profile and rich. Also: I did not put it together that Stefani and Garner were both represented by Wasser, and that she was using both women to dilute the other’s media carnage.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Getty.

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52 Responses to “Lawyer Laura Wasser reveals why March is the celeb divorce busy-season”

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  1. D says:

    She sounds like the kind of person you would want as a friend, straight talking, no BS.

    • MC2 says:

      Yeah- I actually love her & have a lot of respect for her game. I am happy there is a strong woman advocating for women.

  2. Tiffany says:

    When I hear that Laura is representing someone, it not going to get outrageous. She really seems to keep things and clients in check.

  3. Insomniac says:

    Hmmm. So who’s going to split up this month, I wonder?

    • Finally Fr33 says:

      Look at Santa Monica’s public records, lol…they will pay attention now!

  4. Aussie girl says:

    if the break up is nasty for a celeb couple, I could think of nothing worse than doing redcarpets and parties together.

  5. Pinky says:

    I remember that vegan argument! Who was that again?

    She’s one straight shooter. I want to hear more! Plus, I like her stance on cohabitation, if you can afford it. She’s pretty too.

    -TheRealPinky

    • Tania says:

      I think it was Bethany Frankel?

    • supposedtobeworking says:

      there was lots of reporting.photos that Chris whatshisname gave the Apple and Moses burgers, but I don’t know if thats who it is, especially since they have been sooooooo conscientious of the post divorce optics.

      • Marny says:

        Chris and Gwyneth aren’t divorced. She said it was a divorced couple.

      • annaloo. says:

        My money has always been on that she was TECHNICALLY never going to get divorced, and that I would believe it when I saw the paperwork. There is still that part of me that thinks Gwyneth finds divorce too gauche and common and not of her upbringing.

      • Bridget says:

        Chris is the vegetarian, not Gwyneth.

  6. kai says:

    The guy in the first picture seriously scares me.

  7. Tash says:

    Ha, I like her no-nonsense attitude. Plus, she is gorgeous!

  8. INeedANap says:

    Those verbal agreements might work for her because the fathers know that if they step one toe out of line, she is dropping the legal hammer on them somehow. Don’t cross a woman who literally does this for a living and does it well.

    • InVain says:

      That’s exactly what I thought too…

    • pinetree13 says:

      HA ha ha that’s a good point!

    • Esther says:

      which is an insane power imbalance and really uncool.

      • Whiskeyjack says:

        No it isn’t, those men have legal rights just like anyone else. They can get their own lawyers any time they want to. However, if you can keep your situation out of court it’s always best so why not?

    • Malificent says:

      Or maybe the verbal agreements work because both parties are reasonable and work together for the best environment for their child. Strange, but true, these things do sometimes happen.

  9. Pandy says:

    Hoping it’s not Liev and Naomi.

    • Scal says:

      They aren’t actually married-so I don’t think it’s them.

    • Lex says:

      But surely their partnership becomes common law marriage after a while? If you cohabit and have kids and are together for like 10 years, things can still get messy

    • sauvage says:

      I’ve been worried about them ever since their home story came out and somebody pointed out in the comments that celebs usually do that kind of thing when they plan to sell…

  10. Scal says:

    Did she represent Gwen Paltrow in her divorce from Chris Martin? Because I can TOTALLY see her being the one all upset about him feeding the kids a burger. I feel like that was a rumor at one point?

  11. Mia4s says:

    I like her. Seems sane and good at what she does.

    I laughed at the vegan story. I’m in the legal field and I’ve heard lots of stories of (usually Mom) thinking they’re going to get sole custody because Dad missed a music class or “doesn’t spend enough time with the kid” Sigh….

    I’ve said it a million times, if you don’t want to co-parent adopt or use a donor. Otherwise…grow up!!

  12. lucy2 says:

    That was an interesting read, especially about diluting the coverage, and people waiting until after awards season.

  13. Moi says:

    Very interesting….I want to read/hear more.

  14. Harryg says:

    This is fascinating! Especially the bit “I have someone else, file at the same time.”

  15. Murphy says:

    I’m not a celebrity (obviously) or getting divorced but I found that very interesting.
    I don’t know why famous people even bother to get married.

  16. pinetree13 says:

    Usually when Kaiser tells us to read the whole article….I don’t. But this time I listened and…wow! What a fascinating article! That was SOOOO interesting! Thanks for reporting on it Kaiser! 🙂

    • Sass says:

      Totally agree. Having been divorced twice myself, I can attest that in the end it is a business decision and having the ability to pay a Laura Wasser caliber attorney would be wonderful. Like Laura, I have absolutely no desire to ever wed again. I have been happily single for 22 years.

  17. Bros says:

    my favorite part of the article was Alec Baldwin saying he couldnt afford the wassers.

  18. Jen says:

    Sorry if this is a repost – something odd went on. Anyway, Wasser rep ‘d Nick Lachey, not Jessica Simpson. She also rep’d Ashley Simpson 🙂

    • TheOtherSam says:

      Great profile, but the fact-checking may be off: most prior articles have said Wasser represents Gavin Rossdale and not Gwen in their split. Gwen is repped elsewhere.

  19. Zip says:

    I wonder if celebs do a “who contacts Laura Wasser first” kind of race when it’s time to get divorced.

    • MizFabulous says:

      Of course they do. In fact, if one is contemplating filing for divorce and it’s going to be contentious, it’s a good idea to do consultations with ALL of the top divorce attorneys in your area. That way, even if you don’t use them, they can’t represent your spouse against you because of a conflict of interest. Standard divorce strategy.

  20. AJ says:

    ” the minute you get married in the state of California, every dollar you earn, every page of that novel you write, every painting you paint is communal property. It’s half-owned by your spouse.”

    Is the community property law different in California than it is in other states? Like does this mean that if a celeb couple marries in Colorado, the California community property statutes don’t apply even if they get divorced in CA?