Divorce Attorney to the Stars

    Laura Alison Wasser's father knew she'd grow up to follow in his footsteps.  He made certain of it with the initials of her name - LAW.  "He's  the reason I went into this," said Wasser, 40, of her father.

Dennis Wasser founded the firm of Wasser, Cooperman and Carter, a top L.A. family law firm that caters to the rich and famous -- a firm where she's built her own reputation as one of America's top divorce attorneys to the stars.

Over the years, Laura Wasser has represented a number of high-profile clients, including: members of the band KORN during their respective breakups;  actress Angelina Jolie when she split with former hubby, Billy Bob Thornton; musician Stevie Wonder who was sued for palimony by a former girlfriend; and most recently, she negotiated the end to Britney Spears' custody battle with Kevin Federline.

What does she tell her celebrity clients when they come to her for help: "There's good news and bad news. The good news is you make a shitload of money. The bad news is you're going to lose some."

In California, the law is such, she said that, "The person who makes the most money does tend to get screwed." The truth, she tells her clients, is: "Yeah, it's an unpleasant experience. It's divorce."

Because of her title as divorce attorney to the stars, Wasser has become one of the most widely recognized divorce attorneys in the country as if somehow, the celebrity status, has rubbed off on her -- a fact she doesn't seem entirely comfortable with. "I never wanted to be famous," Wasser said.

But her lean, slim build, long, dark hair and striking face makes that almost impossible. On the Internet, beyond a number of references to her highly-regarded legal career, you can also find a Web site devoted to her fashion sense, which includes such well-known names as Rebecca Taylor and Dolce and Gabbana.

Given her profession and her clients, nothing about relationship faux pas surprise her anymore, including the recent public outcry over former presidential candidate John Edwards' admission that he had an affair with former party girl-turned-filmmaker Rielle Hunter. "It's interesting to me the number of incredibly intelligent people who get themselves into situations," she mused. "It happens. But I don't know that human nature is that we should be with one person for the rest of our lives."

Despite her well-known clientele, Wasser is closed-mouthed about the details of their cases, bemoaning the media hounding of what she considers very personal matters. Perhaps it's because, as a native of the area, her connections would have read like a who's-who list long before she began to represent celebrities in family court. Or perhaps it's because she also believes that her profession "makes money off the misery of others."

Anyway you look at it, it bothers her. "It's always fascinating to me that the other three or four heavy hitters in divorce firms have publicists," she said. That's just not her thing. In fact, despite California's very open records law, she does her best to keep her clients out of the public eye. She sometimes files court documents just before the weekends or holidays to get the least amount of press. Other times, she asks that pleadings be sealed by the court to protect the children involved. "Why do we slow down to watch a train wreck?" she asked. "It's sad."

"It's become routine for this to be breaking news. I don't know why. It's just not anyone else's business."

The Internet, which has made news immediate and the media more competitive, has made her job even tougher, she said. "You really can play a case through the media," she added.

While she won't give specifics on cases, she did give examples. Say, for instance, in a custody battle, where a star is being accused of doing something that harmed her children based on photos taken by the paparazzi, while that information can't be used in court, a judge can see it and it "can come into play" even though it's not supposed to. "The Internet is an amazing tool. But there are people out there will exploit others or themselves using it," she said. "The Internet doesn't change the face of family law. It's the way people are using it."

And often, she said, one partner or another or both, may be making be working to make the situation public. In September 2008, actor Alec Baldwin is expected to release a book about his experience in divorce court with former wife Kim Basinger. Wasser, who hasn't worked with the case, said that one and others like the one involving former model Christy Brinkley, strike her simply: "If you have a long, drawn out, horrible divorce, something's fueling the fire."

And today, she believes, it's not necessary for divorce proceedings to be adversarial. With the idea of collaborative divorce making its way into the family court system, "Divorce is not so devastating or debilitating as it was in the 50s or 60s," said Wasser, whose own parents are divorced and who is a divorced single mom herself. "Everyone has Thanksgiving together with their new spouses."

That's not the only trend she sees today in California law. There are others as well, including:

1. An increase in the number of prenuptial agreements
More are being written in California since the state courts changed the laws in 2000-2001. The change detailed the specifics of what needs to be written in the agreement to make certain it won't be overturned if a marriage fails. And, according to Wasser, if it's written right, more prenuptial agreements will stand under the new law.

2. More  fathers getting full time custody.
"There's a huge influx of working mothers" who have full-time jobs, full-time nannies and an active social life. When their marriages fail, their husbands usually don't have typical 9-to-5 jobs, and those men are now asking for more time with their children. "They have an opportunity to be much more hands on," she said.

3. The tax implications of same-sex marriages, which have been approved in California.
Because the federal government doesn't recognize same-sex marriages, the legal question is how will it handle spousal support -- given that spousal support is supposed to be tax deductible?

Her best advice to anyone getting divorced: "One of the things I tell people is, when you married this person or you had a child with this person, at some point, there was some love," she said. "If you can tap into that good feeling when you are going through this, my job as an attorney will be easier."

And if you want to save yourself some money along the way, Wasser suggested couples sit down at the kitchen table, talk through your divorce settlement and keep the breakup as amicable as they can. "You'll end up being so much better off in the end," she said.