Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Friday 26 January 2018

Celebrity divorce lawyer launches site to simplify breakups

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY
AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — For
years, Laura Wasser has
been one of the go-to di-
vorce attorneys when Hol-
lywood power couples
break up.
Now Wasser wants to bring
some of the strategies she’s
developed during her ca-
reer representing stars such
as Angelina Jolie, Christina
Aguilera and Johnny Depp
to help regular couples. Her
new site, It’s Over Easy, aims
to get couples divorced
from their computers or
tablets, without having to
hire an attorney — or ever
set foot in a courthouse.
The website’s formal launch
Thursday will allow couples
in New York County and
throughout California to
handle their divorces and
child custody arrange-
ments online.
Wasser said the inspiration
came from her own online
shopping habits, and hear-
ing from people who want In this Jan. 12, 2018, photo, attorneys Dennis Wasser, seated, and Laura Wasser, pose their Century City office in Los Angeles.
to handle their own divorc- Associated Press
es but find the process too to find a way forward,” she cial information and details vice that includes filing of wouldn’t mind seeing me
confusing, expensive, in- said. “It’s so much better for about what days are most court documents, 90 min- less, paying me less,” she
timidating — or all of those your emotional health to important for them to have utes of mediation counsel- joked.
things and more. be able to do it that way.” their children. ing and document filing Other sites offer similar ser-
“I feel like there’s so many It’s Over Easy is part service- At the end of process, both with the court. vices, such as Wevorce,
people who these days oriented and part-lifestyles sides will have documents Wasser’s services, by com- which is affiliated with an-
shop online, date online, site, with Wasser and others that can lead to legal di- parison, start with a $25,000 other online legal resource,
bank online — maybe they sharing their approaches to vorces and custody agree- retainer and $850 an hour. LegalZoom.
actually even met dating managing finances during ments. The site could even work But those services aren’t
online — and now they’re a breakup, co-parenting The site has three tiers, for some of her clients. “I fronted by a lawyer like
married,” she said. children, and surviving holi- ranging from $750 for a think there are probably Wasser, who doesn’t com-
“Why not give them the op- day gatherings. guided do-it-yourself filing some that can go through ment about her celeb-
portunity to do this online?” Users of the site fill in finan- to a premium, $2,500 ser- this process. They probably rity clients but is familiar to
She said the site’s goal is readers of TMZ and other
“changing the face of di- celebrity sites.
vorce.” It requires both par- Wasser became a family
ties to use the site to com- law attorney after she fin-
plete their judgment, al- ished law school and her
though work is transferrable marriage was coming to
to a lawyer if needed. an end. She asked her fa-
The process is based on ther, divorce lawyer Dennis
core questions Wasser asks Wasser, for a job. Her first
clients and techniques she assignment was to handle
uses to try to keep break- her own divorce. She re-
ups amicable. mains friends with her first
Wasser, 49, said she urges husband, she said.
people undergoing a di- As for concerns the site will
vorce or end of a long-term make it too simple for cou-
relationship to try to think ples to divorce, Wasser is
about the moments they skeptical.
really cared for the other “We’re not making it too
person, such as when they easy,” Wasser said. “Di-
proposed marriage or the vorce is very difficult, but it
birth of a child. is happening. And I hardly
“Try to get back to them think that anybody is going
and realize that there is to see ... our advertisements
something good that did In this Jan. 12, 2018, photo, divorce attorney Laura Wasser, who has represented celebrities like and go ‘Oh I hadn’t even
come out of your relation- Britney Spears and Johnny Depp, poses at her Century City office in Los Angeles. thought of that. Now I’m
ship. Focus on that and try Associated Press going to get divorced.’”q