WHEN Hollywood publicist Michael Sands tried to hire celebrity divorce lawyer Dennis Wasser in a child custody case, he got a stern brushoff from the silver-haired, opera-loving attorney, best known for handling the breakups of such Hollywood luminaries as Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg and J. Lo. "You don't need an army to destroy an ant," Sands recalled Wasser telling him.
Now this urbane family law specialist may find himself in the uncomfortable position of having to marshal his own legal army, as he's become a "person of interest" in the ongoing federal investigation of Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano. Pellicano has been indicted in an elaborate wiretapping and witness intimidation racket that federal prosecutors say illegally investigated such Hollywood figures as Garry Shandling, Sylvester Stallone and CAA honchos Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane. Attorney Terry N. Christensen has also been indicted in the probe, and another big-time lawyer has acknowledged being in the investigators' headlights as well -- celebrity litigator Bertram Fields, who used to refer all sorts of clients, including Cruise, to Wasser. News that Wasser could be embroiled in the Pellicano investigation has left the small, clubby world of high-end divorce lawyers reeling. There are only a few lawyers who handle the town's mega-cases, and they generally maintain cordial relations in part because they face off so often, and trust between counsels can benefit warring spouses. These lawyers charge up to $850 an hour, and they can earn millions when the divorce wrangling lasts for years.
Among his colleagues, the Century City-based Wasser is known for speaking softly but enjoying the limelight. Like the late palimony king Marvin Mitchelson, the 63-year-old Wasser has been known to flaunt his celebrity clientele like a rap star wears bling. Emerging from court after a rare public session in Cruise's divorce from Nicole Kidman, Wasser stopped to give sound bites for the cameras, while Kidman's attorney, Sorrell Trope, headed for the door.
In the February 2003 issue of W, the women's fashion magazine, the Brooklyn-born, USC-educated Wasser flashed a scrapbook filled with memorabilia about his celebrity clients. He discussed the finer points of their private jets, and boasted how MGM mogul Kirk Kerkorian flew him and his family to Vegas for his 60th birthday, after he beat back the demands of Kerkorian's ex-wife for more child support. Wasser's photogenic 37-year-old daughter, Laura, is one of his closest associates and handles the marital woes of young celebs like Jessica Simpson and Angelina Jolie. The pair even consulted on the Jim Carrey comedy "Liar, Liar," about a divorce lawyer whose life is turned topsy-turvy when his son makes a birthday wish that his dad stop lying for 24 hours. The movie's producer, Brian Grazer, had also hired the Wasser firm to handle a request for more child support from his ex-wife.
Wasser declined comment for this article, and through his lawyers has denied any wrongdoing. A dozen top divorce lawyers contacted by The Times professed surprise that he would come up in the probe. "I can't believe he had any part of that," said lawyer and friend Norman Oberstein, who faced Wasser in the Sondra Locke-Clint Eastwood palimony case, and counts himself as a friend. "He's a very straight-shooter."
Irwin Buter, an attorney and Wasser friend of 25 years, added, "He would never throw me a curveball but he may throw me a fastball because he's a good lawyer. I'd take his word to the bank."
Trope said he has gone up against Wasser a number of times. "Is he the most feared lawyer in town in divorce work? Absolutely not. His style is very low-key. His courtroom style is very matter of fact, no histrionics." Trope said that Wasser likes to talk in a low whisper. "He's the kind of person who sits down and says, 'Now, we're all friends. Can't we get this worked out?' He's normally not interested in what they call going to the mat."
There's been ongoing speculation in the media about whether Pellicano became involved in Cruise vs. Kidman. The breakup of the two superstars titillated the public and the tabloids, and the specter of wiretapping was so great that Kidman's New York attorney, William Beslow, brought in security specialist Richard Di Sabatino to conduct what he described as "counter surveillance."
"It's just a precautionary measure whenever you have a divorce proceeding in the limelight like her case," explained Di Sabatino, who said he outfitted Kidman's phones with "encryption devices in case anybody who was listening to the phone calls wouldn't be able to hear unless they were a party of the conversation."
