How Britney Spears’ lawyer Laura Wasser became go-to fixer for celebrity splits – charging A-listers like Kim Kardashian and Johnny Depp $1,000-AN-HOUR to fight their break-up battles
- Britney, 41, has hired Laura, 55, amid her split from Sam Asghari, 29
- Laura has been practicing law for 29 years and charges $1,000-an-hour
- She has represented a slew of A-listers like Angelina Jolie and Kevin Costner
Whenever a celebrity gets divorced, every detail surrounding the demise of their marriage is usually splashed across every news outlet, but there’s one person who also dominates the coverage – divorce lawyer to almost every star, Laura Wasser.
Laura has been front and center for the most publicized divorce cases – including Britney Spears and her ex Kevin Federline, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, and Kim Kardashian and Kanye West – so it comes as no shock that Britney had enlisted her once again, amid her recent split from Sam Asghari.
On Wednesday, news emerged that the singer, 41, was splitting from her husband-of-14-months Sam, 29, over allegations that she had been unfaithful – and hours later, it was revealed that she had hired Laura, 55, to represent her.
It seems as though Britney is in good hands, because Laura, from Los Angeles, California, is a force to be reckoned with.
Britney Spears has hired celebrity divorce lawyer Laura Wasser (seen) to represent her amid her split from her husband-of-14-months, Sam Asghari
News hit the web on Wednesday that the singer, 41, was splitting from her husband-of-14-months Sam, 29, over allegations that she had been unfaithful
Laura, from Los Angeles, California, has played a part in numerous high profile divorce cases throughout her nearly three-decade long career. She’s seen with Kim Kardashian in 2013
Runs in the family: Laura – whose father, Dennis Wasser, is also a prominent divorce lawyer – grew up in LA
Laura – whose father, Dennis Wasser, is also a prominent divorce lawyer – grew up in LA and after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, she headed to Loyola Law School, where she earned her law degree in 1994.
Soon after finishing her schooling, she joined her dad’s law firm, Wasser Cooperman & Mandles, where she quickly rose through the ranks.
After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, she headed to Loyola Law School, where she earned her law degree in 1994
‘At the time, there weren’t a lot of women trying cases. There was a stigma attached. If they did what they did, they were referred to with the B-word,’ her father told the New York Times in 2021 of his daughter’s ascend to the top.
She is now a managing partner at the firm, and has been practicing law for roughly 29 years – and she charges a whopping $1,000 per hour for her services.
She’s also the founder of the online divorce service It’s Over Easy – a five-step program that helped people get through their breakups – which went on to be acquired by Divorce.com in 2022.
In addition, she previously hosted the iHeart Radio podcast All’s Fair With Laura Wasser, which ended in 2020, and PodcastOne’s Divorce Sucks! With Laura Wasser in 2019.
She’s represented a slew of A-listers over her nearly three-decade long career, including Angelina Jolie, Heidi Klum, Kris Jenner, Ryan Reynolds, Christina Aguilera, Hilary Duff, Stevie Wonder, Patricia Arquette, Kate Walsh, Johnny Knoxville, Maria Shriver, Kelly Clarkson, and Kevin Costner.
Soon after finishing her schooling, she joined her dad’s law firm, Wasser Cooperman & Mandles, where she quickly rose through the ranks
She is now a managing partner at the firm, and has been practicing law for roughly 29 years – and she charges a whopping $1,000 per hour for her services
She’s represented a slew of A-listers, like Angelina Jolie, Heidi Klum, Johnny Depp, Christina Aguilera, and Kevin Costner. She’s seen at Johnny’s trial against Amber Heard last year
Laura insisted that the stars are ‘very much the same’ as all of her other clients and are often just feeling ‘scared, angry, and heartbroken’
Last year, Laura spilled many secrets from her years of representing high-profile people during an interview with The New Yorker – and she insisted that the stars are ‘very much the same’ as all of her other clients and are often just feeling ‘scared, angry, and heartbroken.’
‘Everybody really is very much the same [when going through a divorce]. We are all scared, we are all angry, we are all heartbroken,’ she said. ‘We all want to make sure our kids are OK, we’re OK.
‘Whether you’re going, “Oh, my God, who am I going to walk the red carpet at the Oscars with,” or, “Do I still get to go to the Met Gala if I’m not with him anymore?” or, “Who do I go to the firm’s Labor Day party with,” or, “What if I get drunk and Xerox my butt because I don’t have my spouse there with me?” – it’s all relative. I always say, divorce is the great equalizer.’
However, she admitted that one major difference between working with a famous face and someone who is not in the spotlight is that the celebrities are ‘not used to hearing no.’
She added: ‘I can’t tell you yes. I’m not gonna blow sunshine up your a**. I’ve had people say, “I don’t like her, I don’t think we’re a good fit, she didn’t tell me what I wanted to hear.”
‘And a lot of times those people will circle back or their rep will and say, “Wow, she really should have stuck with you, because you told her how it was gonna be, and you were right.”‘
Laura explained that she gets ‘very close’ with her clients, learning intimate details about everything that went on during their relationships – including their ‘sexual proclivities.’
But sometimes, she has to remind them that she’s not there to give them dating advice because she’s not a therapist.
‘People feel that they need to explain sometimes why things have broken down. To justify themselves, they will say things that they wouldn’t otherwise say,’ she told the Times.
‘Like, “I didn’t feel seen,” or, “He would have sex with call girls and then come home and try to have sex with me.”
However, she admitted that one major difference between working with a famous face and someone who is not in the spotlight is that the celebrities are ‘not used to hearing no’
Laura explained that she gets ‘very close’ with her clients, learning intimate details about everything that went on during their relationships – including their ‘sexual proclivities’
The lawyer, who was said to have inspired Laura Dern’s character in the 2019 Netflix movie Marriage Story, said she is determined to ‘normalize’ divorce and end the ‘taboo’ around it
‘They don’t need me for [therapy]. I tell them, “This is a mental health issue. I’m not qualified to help.” My marriage lasted for 14 months in the ’90s. What do I know?’
The lawyer, who was said to have inspired Laura Dern’s character in the 2019 Netflix movie Marriage Story, explained to the New Yorker that she is determined to ‘normalize’ divorce and end the ‘taboo’ around it.
‘It’s happening, and we need to make it better,’ she explained. ‘The founding fathers didn’t want people to get divorced.
‘It was sacrilegious, and if you were a divorced woman in society in the 1800s you were pelted with rocks or whatever.
‘But that’s not the case anymore, and if you look at the statistics, how can it still be so taboo?
‘How can it still be so difficult to do? How do we still need to be hiring attorneys at a thousand dollars an hour?’
When question about the steep price that she charges for her services, she explained that it’s worth it since she’s ‘really good.’
The attorney insisted that despite her high-paying salary, she is focused on helping her clients rather than making a big chunk of money.
‘I say to clients all the time, the more you argue, the more conflict there is, the more I get paid,’ she continued.
‘I drive a Porsche. I’m wearing Alaïa. I’m good. Let’s work this out and get you through this.’
She also told the Times, ‘It’s such a gift to me that I’m getting paid all this money per hour to problem-solve and come up with resolutions to the big issues.
The attorney insisted that despite her high-paying salary, she is focused on helping her clients rather than making a big chunk of money
As for her advice to people who are getting married, she said that prenups are ‘really important.’ She’s seen leaving court in 2016 during Johnny and Amber’s trial
As for her personal life, Laura, who who was briefly married in her 20s and is the mother to two sons, aged 18 and 13, said she is not interest in walking down the aisle ever again
‘But while I’m doing that, I get to hear these narratives. I really believe it’s important to give these clients the narrative for their next chapter, to drive home the message that the world is your oyster, to ask, “What did you learn, and what are you going to do now?”‘
As for her advice to people who are getting married, she suggested that both parties stay financially stable on their own, adding that prenups are ‘really important.’
‘Even if you don’t have a prenup, have the conversations that you would have if you were having the prenup because communication is the reason that most marriages break down, more than anything else,’ she stated to the New Yorker.
‘I’m just an old hippie procreating with anyone who comes along,’ she joked to the outlet. She’s seen at her wedding
‘Make your own money, dude. You’ve got to be able to make your own money. And if you have to give up whatever [your] career is, then we make a deal for how that’s gonna work.’
Britney and Sam, who wed last June, are reportedly heading for divorce after they got into a ‘nuclear argument’ over his belief that she had cheated on him.
Page Six reported that the Hit Me Baby One More Time songstress has hired Laura to represent her, and that the pair had an ‘iron clad’ prenup in place before tying the knot.
Ben Affleck – who worked with Laura in 2018 when she mediated his divorce from Jennifer Garner – couldn’t stop gushing over her to the Times.
‘She has a talent for fostering empathy rather than enmity,’ he said. ‘Once you get into a fight, I suspect everyone loses. She made that clear from the start.’
As for her personal life, Laura, who who was briefly married in her 20s and is the mother to two sons, aged 18 and 13, said she is not interest in walking down the aisle ever again.
‘I’m just an old hippie procreating with anyone who comes along,’ she joked to the outlet.
‘People prepare for what we’ve always known is supposed to be the best day of your life. The problem is, once it’s all done, you’re married.
‘It was a great day and a great party, and now you turn to look next to you at this guy who has not got the greatest breath in the world in the morning when you wake up next to him, and that’s the rest of your life.’
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