Angelina Jolie reportedly fired Laura Wasser, one of Hollywood’s premier celebrity divorce lawyers who represented Kim Kardashian, Johnny Depp and Stevie Wonder among many other clients during their respective divorce proceedings. Instead she is now representing herself.
Jolie and Pitt were represented by high-powered attorneys on Friday at an appeals court hearing for her bid to remove Judge John Ouderkirk for failing to disclose professional ties between himself and Pitt’s legal team.
Laura Wasser
Dennis Wasser, an esteemed Hollywood divorce attorney, encouraged L.A.-based Wasser to enter family law as her career. After graduating from UC Berkeley and Loyola Law School she went to work at a center dedicated to disability rights law.
And she quickly recognized that divorce cases were the perfect opportunity to establish her reputation and get in front of more people, representing A-list celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Kim Kardashian and Britney Spears among many others.
Water is known for her aggressive legal strategy during high-profile divorce proceedings, yet she favors settlement and co-parenting agreements whenever possible. That’s why Jolie’s choice to switch legal representation with Samantha Bley Dejean of Hersh Mannis LLP’s firm Hersh Mannis was so unexpected. Dejean has taken an aggressive stance regarding Pitt’s relationship to their children according to reports on TMZ.
Brad Pitt
Pitt, who once dated Gwyneth Paltrow, has become known for taking on meaty movie roles. First noticed as a charming scoundrel in 1992’s Thelma & Louise and later receiving widespread critical acclaim as the demented malcontent in 1995’s 12 Monkeys; subsequent roles include Se7en (crime drama), Million Dollar Baby and Terrence Malick’s impressionistic opus The Tree of Life.
Former soldier Pitt now leads his own film-production company and has received two Best Actor Academy Award nominations for his roles in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and baseball biopic Moneyball. Jolie and Pitt share six children together – three adopted children from previous relationships as well as Maddox and Pax – whom they share custody over. Their separation has triggered a custody battle and Pitt is reported to be dating jewelry designer Ines de Ramon who is 26 years his junior.
Angelina Jolie
As everyone knows by now, Brangelina have filed for divorce. Their high-profile lawyers have been fighting hard on their behalf – with Laura Wasser, who has represented stars such as Johnny Depp and Stevie Wonder, being one of them.
Recent court appearances by her included live-streamed court hearings to argue for disqualification of their judge due to links with one of Pitt’s lawyers, according to USA TODAY. A Los Angeles family law attorney not involved with the case told USA TODAY it is rare for judges to be removed from cases like these.
Child Custody
Once parents separate, child custody arrangements must be determined. A judge makes this determination based on what’s best for the children’s wellbeing; typically this decision favors joint legal and physical custody arrangements between both parents or sole custody to only one of them; they can grant either joint legal/physical custody arrangements or sole legal/physical custody to only one. Usually though, courts prefer joint custody arrangements.
Child custody laws do not discriminate based on race, religion or sexual orientation; judges award custody based on each parent’s ability to care for and nurture the children in an adequate manner. They may also award visitation rights to non-custodial parents.
Non-parents such as grandparents, siblings and aunts/uncles can seek custody if extraordinary circumstances exist. For instance, non-parents could gain custody in cases of domestic violence, abandonment, persistent neglect or unfitness by the parent who had custody in the first place. Parents found guilty of violating custody orders could face fines and jail time depending on severity; violations include being habitually late to visitation sessions or taking children outside their state or country without authorisation.