A Top Celebrity Divorce Attorney Explains Why Everyone Breaks Up at Once

When Jennifer Garner and Gwen Stefani announced their divorces within days of each other this past August, the media called the breakups the latest in the "summer love died." Everyone was splitting at the same time, after all—and purposely, it turns out. Laura Wasser, one of Los Angeles' top divorce lawyers (whose clients include both Garner and Stefani), explained the strategy to Bloomberg Business. "I'll tell my clients, 'I have someone else, I can't say who, but you should really wait and file [for separation] at the same time,'" Wasser said, because this divides the media attention.

Wasser shared a few other strategies used by divorce attorneys in Hollywood:

1) The best time to file a divorce petition is before a holiday weekend, when news outlets aren't paying close attention. All Friday afternoons used to be great, before the press became more alert.

2) Apparently, the county clerk's office at the Los Angeles Superior Court tends to tip off tabloids when a celebrity shows up in a filing, Wasser and other divorce attorneys told Bloomberg. (A spokesperson for the court denied this, of course.) Wasser likes to file her cases in branch offices like Santa Barbara's, where she said clerks leak fewer documents.

3) Stars are told to tell their spouses they're filing for divorce before they put in the papers. Otherwise, they'll find out through the press. "The turnaround is so fast," Wasser said. "I have to tell my clients, 'Okay, the courier is filing it today. Okay, he's in line to file. Okay, it's filed. It will be on TMZ within an hour.'"

4) Celebrities are advised t