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Two minutes into a call with Laura Wasser, and its obvious why shes Hollywoods go-to divorce attorney.
Shes practical and thorough, and she has a sense of humor.
(Would I get married and divorced just to hang out with her?
She alsorepresentedJennifer Jason Leigh in her divorce fromMarriage Storys director, Noah Baumbach.
There have been many people who have called and said, Did you see it?
Is that your office?
That looks like your office.
Do you think that was supposed to be you?
And Im like, I dont know, she says over the phone.
Either way, shes a fan ofMarriage Story.
Professionally and socially, I know so many of the people involved with the film.
I have to imagine that Im one of the few family-law attorneys that they all know.
They all had some questions for me about the process.
Ive served on other films as a technical adviser.
He just said, Do you think we could film some of the scene from the office?
I already knew that he was writing something like this.
[Noah] said, Well, I actually did another one.
Theres definitely some things I think youll find familiar in it.
Do you think that we could possibly shoot a couple of the scenes in your office?
And I said, Sure.
So we got the clearance from the building, and he was able to do that.
Were you on set when they filmed in your office?No.
What did you think of the Nora character?
What was your first impression of her?I love Laura Dern.
I love her as an actor, and I love her as a person.
I thought she was portraying a satirical family-law attorney.
Nicole goes over to his house afterward, and she says, Why did you switch attorneys?
And he said, I needed to get my own asshole.
Is that what its really like?Yes, it is.
These clients come and go.
We have a collegial and a professional relationship that goes far beyond this.
I tell that to young attorneys all the time.
In our business, being the voice of reason and having integrity is extremely important.
Id like to ask you what you think about some of Noras lines.
Do you think thats accurate?I dont agree with that.
I believe that good fathers have always existed.
I think parental roles have shifted as weve become a little bit more evolved as a society.
Not because its good for the parents, but because its good for the kids.
The other line of Noras is that the system rewards bad behavior.
It seems like from your perspective, thats not always true.I dont think thats always good at all.
But, certainly, clients can feel that way.
I dont think judicial officers find that to be something thats worthy of being rewarded.
There is a line in the movie that weve all been saying for years, by the way.
Family-law attorneys see good people on their worst behavior.
Criminal attorneys see bad people on their best behavior.
I dont think that that is true anymore; I think people are a little bit more enlightened.
For many, many years, nobody wanted to talk about divorce.
Sure, a movie with such a different idea and depiction of a separation.I think so, yes.
Look, its still sad.
No one is saying like, Oh, divorce is great.
You should get divorced!
Better for their kid, better for them.
The judge would usually cut you off, but again, thats kind of an artistic license.
Those things would be things that were maybe in paperwork.
Youre wasting my time.
Same with a car seat.
That could happen to anybody that just flew into town.
How do we work out every other holiday and weekends and everything else?
I work with people that are a little bit more high profile.
You have to be very careful about what you say.
It lives forever in print and in computers.
I have to ask you about Noras costumes, which were crucial to her character.
What did you think of them?I thought they were fantastic.
Very well dressed, and I appreciated that.
I actually have said that a couple of times.
I probably looked more schleppy than she did when she said it.
[Pauses] I mean …maybe.
You mentionedThe Squid and the Whaleearlier.
I think [Marriage Story] is a really, really good educator for people about this.
I also thought, in the end, it was a love story.
Maybe not a romantic love story, but a familial love story, and I think thats important.
You better figure out a way to deal with them and not burn too many bridges.
I love that answer.
Its another poetic-license kind of a thing.
She didnt have a residence here.
You have to be in California for a certain period of time before you might even file here.
This is the greatest jurisdiction to file in when you are looking for child support.
But if youre asking me my honest opinion, they were a New York family in the movie.
They lived in New York.
She came here for two weeks, and then she filed a petition!
Thats not very realistic.
Youre not concentrating on what may be the legal important things.
