A Harvard Law School graduate and North Carolina native, Berk is the ultimate superstar among celebrity criminal-defense lawyers. Mel Gibson, Kiefer Sutherland, Heather Locklear, Ozzy Osbourne, Halle Berry, Queen Latifah, Paul Reubens, and Cameron Diaz are just a few celebs in a long list of big-name clients Berk has represented over the years. "She has a very smooth and reassuring way of dealing with people," Saura Sahu, an associate at Berk's firm, told ABC News of her boss. Another reason for Berk's success: She steers clear of the media. "Berk likes her cases, her high-profile clients, and herself well out of the media spotlight," reports The Wrap. Despite Berk's tight-lipped approach, though, she did once gush about her career mantra to a Variety reporter: "Being a passionate and persuasive advocate requires as much sugar as it does salt."
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Holley entered the media spotlight while working on the O.J. Simpson defense team—and, more recently, on cases involving Nicole Richie, Jaycee Dugard, and Lindsay Lohan. (She dropped her "uncontrollable client" in frustration, then returned to LiLo's side a couple of weeks later.) Chapman began her career as a public defender in Los Angeles County and then had a stint as the managing partner of The Cochran Firm's L.A. office. Today, the powerhouse attorney is a partner at the Santa Monica, California-based entertainment and business litigation firm Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert LLP.
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Allred first made waves in the late 1970s by busting California's men's only Friars Club for discrimination, and she's been representing powerful women in controversial cases ever since. Her most recent litigation bonanza is owed to Tiger Woods: Allred has worked with alleged mistresses Rachel Uchitel and porn star Joslyn James —and even the golfer's kindergarten teacher. Just last week, she slammed Bones star David Boreanaz with a sexual-harassment lawsuit on behalf of her client, Kristina Hagan.
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It can't be easy going up against the wrath of Mel Gibson, but California super-lawyer Freid is doing just that, representing— however successfully—the star's ex, Oksana Gregorieva, in their escalating legal disputes. Freid, whose specialty is family law, scored another big client last month with real-estate developer and Dodgers owner Frank McCourt in his divorce case.
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Another legal guru backing Gregorieva in her case against Gibson is computer-crimes pro Spertus. An expert on intellectual property who even founded such a division at the Department of Justice, Spertus reportedly consulted with Gregorieva about claims that she had doctored the leaked audio tapes of Gibson's ranting. Word is he told her to back up her hard drive, as the cops were expected to seize it.
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Shapiro, who successfully defended O.J. Simpson at his murder trial, is a top celebrity advocate—which is why it's such a shame that Lindsay Lohan lost him after only a week on the job. Shapiro resigned only a day after Lohan was to report to jail, reportedly annoyed with the troubled starlet breaking the rules at the "sober living house" he put her in.
Newscom
"There is just one Sorrell Trope," said one prominent divorce attorney after Trope was hired by Elin Nordegren, the scorned wife of Tiger Woods. "He's the dean of the California matrimonial bar." Trope is known for finessing high-profile divorce cases, a beat he's excelled at since 1949. Famous past clients include Cary Grant, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, and Britney Spears.
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When Elin Nordegren needed a superstar attorney to reckon with her husband Tiger Woods' headline-grabbing car crash, she didn't have far to look. Nordegren hired Walter H. White, Jr., an attorney based in London who happens to work at McGuire Woods, the same firm as Nordegren's twin sister. Months later, White has stayed on with Nordegren through revelation after revelation of Tiger's many mistresses.
Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP Photo
Another well-known divorce attorney, Wasser has helped an elite list of clients dissolve bank-busting marriages. Angelina Jolie, Mel Gibson (in his divorce from wife Robyn), Britney Spears (whom she eventually fired, citing poor communication), Nick Lachey, Jessica Simpson, and Stevie Wonder are just part of her all-star roster. Wasser even ventured on to a film set herself, serving as a legal consultant on the Jim Carrey comedy Liar, Liar.
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When Tiger Woods faced a contentious custody battle with his Swedish wife, Elin Nordegren—who is lawyered up pretty well herself—he turned to Sasser, who specializes in brokering international custody agreements. In 2003, Sasser also represented NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon, whose hefty income at the time left his ex-wife with a $15.3 million settlement.
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Marsha Revel
Attorneys aren't the only ones who have to usher celebrities through their courtroom drama. Take California's Marsha Revel, who has presided over the wacky Lindsay Lohan case, seeing the young actress through a shifting rotation of lawyers, several teary outbursts, and one very
incriminating message painted on the defendant's fingernails.
Scott Gordon
Gordon, an upstanding legal mind who has taught at Southwestern's law school for decades and worked in the Los Angeles district attorney's office in the
sex-crimes division, now faces what must be one of the most litigious cases of his career with the Mel Gibson and Oksana Gregorieva suit. He's already handed down some decisive decisions, such as
allowing investigators limited access to Gregorieva's home computer.
