Laura Wasser is a vision. She has long brown hair, big brown eyes and a petite figure. You’ll never catch her in anything but the latest designer threads. She frequents Hollywood’s coolest bars and restaurants and rubs shoulders with the A-list. But Wasser isn’t an actress, model or fashion designer…
She’s Hollywood’s powerhouse divorce lawyer – the attorney who handles only the most high-profile celebrity splits, representing everyone from Ryan Reynolds to Kim Kardashian. Johnny Depp enlisted her help for his divorce from Amber Heard. And Angelina has just called upon Wasser to be in her corner while she divorces Brad Pitt.
In case you missed it, after just over two years of marriage, Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from husband Brad Pitt, citing irreconcilable differences and “the health of [my] family”.
Understandably, Jolie wants the best lawyer possible in her corner. And one who knows her already – Wasser represented Jolie in her divorce from Billy Bob Thornton.
Wasser is ruthless in the defence of her clients, so much so that she is known as the “disso queen”.
The divorce attorney’s previous clients include – but are not limited to – Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Garner, Melanie Griffith and Stevie Wonder, along with all three of the Kardashian sisters. She’s also the daughter of Denis Wasser – himself a famous defence lawyer – who represented Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg in the dissolution of their marriages. Her father even gave her the nickname Alison so that her initials would read L.A.W.
At this stage in her career, Wasser isn’t cheap. She charges US$850 per hour, requires a US$25 000 retainer and rarely takes on a client worth less than US$10 million.
So, why does the A-list love her so? Well, she knows a thing or two about handling the media. Wasser waits for high profile cases to pile up and submits them to the court together, so that the media attention is diluted. This explains why we often see a flurry of break-announcements splashed across headlines.
She also usually advises clients to settle their cases out of courts.
Wasser worked with Melanie Griffith to keep the public fallout of her divorce from Antonio Banderas to a minimum. “We worked on it [the divorce] for a good year and a half before it came out on TMZ,” Griffith said. “And when we did file it, there were some personal things that were agreed upon by Antonio and myself that we had removed from the official papers so they wouldn’t get out.”
When it comes to divorce, Wasser is Hollywood’s go-to girl. Angelina Jolie appears to be in safe hands.
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