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Faithful in business
Hollywood has been buzzing with rumors since NBC television revealed in early January that Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West, her husband since 2014, were living apart. It is now official: a petition for divorce was filed in mid-February in a Los Angeles court by Laura Wasser, the lawyer chosen by the American reality TV star. 52-year-old Laura Wasser has already defended Kim Kardashian in 2011, during a previous divorce. According to the press people, the two women began to meet again in the summer of 2020, shortly after Kanye West declared his candidacy for the US presidential election – one of the causes of the breakup, according to relatives of the couple.
Advice at a price of gold
Nicknamed “The Disso Queen” (“The Queen of separations”) by the celebrity press, Laura Wasser is a specialist in celebrity divorces. She defended Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Britney Spears, Ben Affleck… According to Bloomberg, the broad-smiled lawyer charges $ 850 (702 euros) an hour, demands a down payment of $ 25,000 and rarely defends clients whose fortunes do not reach at least $ 10 million. Director Noah Baumbach, who had to deal with Laura Wasser during her own divorce – she was defending his ex-wife – is said to have been inspired by the character of lawyer played by Laura Dern in his film Marriage story (2019).
In the service of divorce for all
In 2018, Laura Wasser launched It’s Over Easy (” it’s too easy “), a platform whose goal is to “Democratize” access to divorce in a country where its average cost is 15,000 euros, according to a 2017 study, ten times more than in France. Accessible from 750 euros, the mediation service intends “Civilize” divorce proceedings: “It doesn’t make sense that we are still using Kramer’s model against Kramer”, Laura Wasser told New York Times in 2019. A little over a year after its launch, the platform had benefited 450 couples and thousands of visitors had taken advantage of its free resources, including a podcast hosted by Laura Wasser.
Born under the sign of the law
Laura Wasser was born in 1968 in Los Angeles. She said she was conceived the day her father, family lawyer Dennis Wasser, was called to the California bar. Her parents christened her Laura Allison Wasser so her initials would give “LAW” (“Loi”, in French). She joined her father’s firm in 1998 and specialized in family law. Her own divorce, after a year of marriage, is her first case as a lawyer. She has never remarried since. ” I do not want to get married. I don’t like the idea of concluding this contract ”, she said to Bloomberg in 2016.
