When Angelina Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, she asked Laura Wasser to represent her. She knew Wasser already, and Wasser represented her in her second divorce, from Billy Bob Thornton (which was largely amicable). But Jolie learned, over the course of the next two years, that Wasser was not any kind of “wartime consigliere.” If anything, it felt like Wasser was sitting back and doing nothing (at best) while Brad Pitt launched a particularly vicious smear campaign against Jolie. So Jolie left Wasser in 2018, and she went out of town and hired Samantha DeJean, a respected lawyer who specializes in custody battles and difficult divorces. But because DeJean was an out-of-town lawyer, I guess Angelina felt like she needed another lawyer, an LA lawyer, on the case too. So she hired Priya Sopori to work with DeJean. Now the Daily Mail says that Sopori has withdrawn from the case.
Angelina Jolie’s bitter divorce battle with Brad Pitt has hit yet another bump in the road after the actress parted ways with one of her high-priced attorneys. Priya Sopori, a Los Angeles-based former federal prosecutor who has been working with Jolie’s lead lawyer, Samantha DeJean, is out after filing a ‘Notice of Withdrawal of Attorney of Record’ with LA Superior Court, DailyMail.com has learned. Experienced trial bulldog Sopori is a partner with California law firm Greenberg Glusker LLP.
It’s not clear whether Jolie – who is fighting Pitt’s efforts to win 50/50 custody of their children – fired Sopori or if the attorney made the decision to quit. But the change in her high profile team at this late stage signals Jolie’s resolve to get what she wants has only hardened.
A source close to Jolie told DailyMail.com: ‘Angelina has fought tooth and nail to get what she wants in this divorce, when it comes to her kids she won’t back down. She’s paying her legal team a fortune, so if she believes one of her lawyers needs to go she won’t hesitate to pull the trigger.’ After Wasser, Jolie hired San Francisco-based DeJean who is now the only lawyer representing her in the long-running custody dispute with Pitt.
The former couple are dragging security experts from two continents, an entourage of personal assistants and bodyguards, a former Jolie co-star and an army of child psychologists and doctors to give evidence in an upcoming custody trial that’s expected to be held in private.
Lists of witnesses filed in a Los Angeles court and seen by DailyMail.com reveal 21 people who will be testifying in the movie stars’ legal fight over their children, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 14, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 12. They have a sixth child, Maddox, but he’s a 19 year-old adult. One witness will be domestic violence expert Alyce LaViolette.
I… don’t know what to think. This whole time, I’ve believed that DeJean is Jolie’s main attorney and the one making the bulk of the decisions about what to do and when in this now four-year-plus divorce and custodial dispute. I tend to believe Sopori was just there as Angelina’s LA-based representation, and maybe Sopori is replaceable. Yeah. I don’t know. When’s this thing headed to trial again? I know it was pushed back recently…yeah, I can’t find a date for when the trial will start? Why is there so little reporting on that aspect of it? Why the trial delay, why the change in lawyers, WTF is happening with Judge Ouderkirk and why isn’t TMZ doing breathless updates of all of it? Is it because the answers to all of those questions are bad headlines for Brad?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
It is obvious that the strategy is to keep this in court until all minor are of legal age. At this point, i think she is wrong. This is wearing on the kids.
I tend to agree here. I’m certainly no legal expert but I don’t think it’s a coincidence this has drug out for 4 years
I think it’s clear now that Wasser quit. She’s no angel but shes against dragging out the acrimony. She would never co-sign this legal strategy.
Julie, Wasser was replaced with Dejean who’s expert in cases that involve children who suffered trauma. Wasser was not. You are looking at this like its a normal divorce. It’s not. All these temporary custody agreements were made for both the kids and Brad, so he can deal with his addictions and the kids and him can go through therapy. That takes time. Brad now thinks that he is ready for 50/50, kids probably are not, and that’s why this trial is happening now. As Angelina said from the begining, it’s about the health of the children.
Changing the narrative will not work . We all know the reality. You make Brad Pitt sound like he rolled over and played dead. Considering how many times “he was the one dragged his feet,put requests for extentions” yet why ignore the fact it was actually Brad Pitts own actions that impacted on the whole families health and well being. Let’s not try to make outJ olie has an agenda and the lawyers and Judge and childtens court appointed thetapists dragged the case to 4 years. Brad Pitt has played a big part in this too. So lets not turn a blind eye to him and his gaslighting actions. Even now, his lawyers and team can’t be as honest tithe media, still spining selective tails of court orders and statements.
But from the beginning we heard that other than the two oldest boys, the others were fine with their father. I think they had to have a supervisor due to his alcoholism but they were apparently willing even just a month after the incident. And that was FOUR years ago.
The danger with the current arrangement is that it’s difficult to cultivate closeness with kids if you only see them a couple of hours every few days. So yeah, you easily end up with a chicken and egg situation where the kids don’t feel comfortable with their dad but that’s because they’re not around long enough to cultivate that trust. If I were advising her I would tell her to agree to shared custody so they can stop wasting energy in this acrimony and turn that energy towards making shared custody a comfortable reality in therapy.
Wasser is famous for urging her clients into therapy with their exes. I think dropping her has led down a very unproductive path. Even the guy who strikes his kid while drunk is forgiveable. Particularly if he’s working his steps.
Kids are incredibly resilient. Assuming Pitt is clean, I think after four years of therapy they are probably ready for a normal relationship.
The whole “kids are resilient” thing I find very frustrating. It’s used to cover a multitude of evils and lack of proper support from caregivers. Why do we spend so many years of adulthood in therapy then? I disagree with this statement strongly.
@Anna people in the US spend years in therapy as adults because they have the luxury of that choice and its encouraged. Elsewhere in the world, kids just ARE resilient because there is no system to help them “come to terms” with their problems.
@Julie I would love to agree with you, but after spending the last 20 years doing everything I can to maintain my ex husband in my kids life, only to get taken to court long after divorce when he remarried and wanted to try to take custody from me, and now dealing with my adult son who has suffered greatly for having a psychopath for a father, I feel personally responsible for having done everything I could to keep his father in his life. Some parents are actually fucking toxic and do more damage. My son and I are very close and now he, as an adult, can actually spell out how much he loathes his father and all I can say is, I am sorry. If Jolie is protecting her kids, nothing Brad does with PR agencies is going to change how his kids see him. By age 11, they could already legally fight to be with their dad if they chose, so don’t lose sleep thinking highly of Brad.
“Even the guy who strikes his kid while drunk is forgiveable.”
Don’t tell other people what they are supposed to find forgivable or excusable. I find it abhorrent that women and children are expected to forgive abusive, violent men, over and over and over again.
100% correct! She wants to drag this on forever.
I HIGHLY doubt that. Considering that Brad is the one who has been dragging things out in regards to finances. The sticking point ISNT custody at this point.
Pretty sure the key issue is he wants 50/50 legal and physical custody. The child support follows the custody ruling after all. He would be paying different amounts depending on the custody ruling.
I haven’t kept up with this mess for a while and assumed it was done, I can’t believe its still not resolved 4 years later!
Pitt is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. If he is fighting over child support he sucks even more than I thought.
What’s your reasoning behind this statement? Why would anyone want to drag out a horrible ordeal like this>
@Valiantly … “I HIGHLY doubt that. Considering that Brad is the one who has been dragging things out in regards to finances. The sticking point ISNT custody at this point.”
The only thing left to settle is custody of the kids. They are going to trial over shared custody of the kids, not finances. I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that financial support for the kids can’t be settled until final custody of the kids is settled.
@Mac … “Pitt is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. If he is fighting over child support he sucks even more than I thought.”
He is not fighting her over child support. This is not a child support trial. He is fighting her for 50-50 shared physical and legal custody of the kids. I think it is beyond obvious at this point that Angie doesn’t want him to have 50-50 shared custody of the kids (and not necessarily because the kids don’t want it) and has done everything in her power, including dragging this out in a ‘the kids will get older and it won’t matter’ waiting game.
This is going to be an ugly, ugly trial.
Yes, those poor kids look so downtrodden…
In CA, if there are allegations of violence or other abuse in a custody case with minor children, the parties can’t “drag it out”. The court maintains and asserts its roll to keep minor children safe.
Jolie and Pitt don’t agree. There are experts agreed to by both parties (or they can’t work on the case – Pitt and Jolie MUST agree on the experts hired) who think Pitt shouldn’t have unfettered access or he would already have it. Jolie cant keep the kids from Pitt. Only the court can, and there had to be enough evidence to do it before trial or it would not have happened.
I was in Jolie’s position in court. I filed the first DVRO when my child was in second grade. The case ended when she was a junior in high school and was old enough to tell the judge that he’d attempted to kill her. I didn’t even know how bad it was when she was with him. My kid was trying to protect her dad, and he was claiming that any abuse/stalking allegations were lies that I made up. Experts can tell when children and teens are lying and they know how abused kids communicate.
Jolie and Pitt have less control than many realize. Using Outerkirk allows many of the expenses to remain with the parties instead of the tax payers, but he is still a judge with the power of the state to keep the kids from Pitt.
My understanding is that they are stuck on the temporary order as the only way to finalize custody is through a full hearing. The temporary order is always made with an abundance of caution as there has been no trial of fact. The court will therefore usually favor the party with no accusation against them because at least it can be certain of the kids wellbeing there. The courts preference is always 50/50 which is why she doesn’t want it to go to hearing.
I’m so sorry that happened to you and your daughter.
Thank you, Blerg. <3<3<3
I’m so sorry you and your family went through this.
Trials are pushed back because of Covid in CA. There won’t be any in 2020, looks like. So how the …, it’s Jolie’s fault?
Does this hold for private cases though? Wouldn’t the parties just agree to a virtual hearing and get it over and done with?
I think the reason we are questioning it, is because she not long ago requested the judge recuse himself which would have set the date back. Now she’s dropping an attorney which will likely mean her equesting for more time for an LA attorney. I like Angie but even for me it’s mega sus.
ALL cases in LA court have been pushed back to the Covid. It’s unfair to blame her for things out of her control.
Yeah no. For the last 4 years the private judge was extended 4 times at Pitts insistence. They reached a custody agreement in 2018, it is Pitt that’s trying to modify it, this hearing is at his request. He’s the one with the issues and has had supervised visits with the kids, who have to see 7 trauma therapists because of what he did and continues to do. Angelina has custody of her kids, and has had since she filed in 2016, and the order from 2018. It is the therapists recommendations they are following. Angelina isn’t responsible for Pitts behaviour, nor is she responsible for covid either.
Possibly, or maybe he’s delaying it so he doesn’t have to pay child support, because you know that would be a whopper of a bill.
All of them have 6 more years of this, even when it gets settled, you know the custody and support money is always going to be in contention.
I wish the best for the kids. It’s good they have each other while going through this, but it has to be difficult and exhausting.
That is not a fair characterisation of what has developed so far. We cannot expect the Dailymail to give us an accurate reading of the situation in any case. They do love a female villain. As have been pointed out many times before, Pitt has been the one to frequently ask for extensions. This lawyer dropping out should not cause any delay as DeJean is still the lead here. Last we heard of the custody arrangement, it was decided upon by the court and if they wanted to rule in Pitt’s favour, they would have done so during the past four years.
If her primary counsel is from out of town, its common to have to also have a local lawyer (i.e. one licensed in the state where the case is pending) for the primary counsel to represent the client without themselves getting licensed in the state where the case is pending. In those circumstances, it is common for counsel to pop in and out and not a big deal. It is not something that would delay her case, she would just have a new local step in (or, if her primary counsel is now licensed in the State, would no longer need the local lawyer).
DeJean isn’t from out of state, she’s based in San Francisco, so I don’t think it’s necessary to have someone else.
Why should Angelina back down? Brad is also free to drop his demands for joint custody! It doesn’t sound like the kids want 50/50 or Angie would probably support them having it.
Regarding Priya Sopori, maybe it turned out not to be necessary to have an LA-based attorney, and the withdrawal was amicably decided on. No reason to think it was some dramatic firing, unless I’m missing something.
You make Brad Pitt sound like he rolled over and played dead. Considering how many times “he was the one dragged his feet,put requests for extentions” yet why ignore the fact it was actually Brad Pitts own actions that impacted on the whole families health and well being. Let’s not try to make outJ olie has an agenda and the lawyers and Judge and childtens court appointed thetapists dragged the case to 4 years. Brad Pitt has played a big part in this too. So lets not turn a blind eye to him and his gaslighting actions. Even now, his lawyers and team can’t be as honest tithe media, still spining selective tails of court orders and statements.
I agree….there’s no way to spin this to make her look like the doting mom…she’s been dragging this divorce out, unnecessarily, for years and her kids are paying the price.
Nope. Brad wanted this hearing. She is fine with custody as it is. There is no dragging from her side. You should read court documents and not tabloids.
Trial date was pushed back because all trial dates are being pushed back. I had a trial scheduled for last May; it is now scheduled for next April and that date will likely be moved back.
But this is a private judge so I don’t even know if it’s been pushed back they may be in court as we speak. Fortunately I think they agree on keeping it private & out of the press. I think after 2 attorneys quit/fired this doesn’t look good for her. I think she refuses their legal advice and that would leave an attorney no recourse.
I think she is running out the clock so the kids can be old enough to decide.
Every time it looks like things might swing Brads way she just switches lawyers. She’s not going to risk her kids.
My 2 cents anyway
Lol it ain’t Angelina who keeps asking for extensions nor is it Angelina who has quid pro quo with the judge.
There will be no trial so the trial specialist lawyers are not needed anymore.
But DM as usual writing bs and claiming Angelina is losing.
The corrupt judge won’t precede so let’s see what will happen in the new year.
This was my thought as well. Priya’s resume shows she’s an accomplished litigator but if they’re not going to court perhaps she doesn’t have as much value.
I can’t imagine being in Angie’s shoes, being done with an abusive man but still being legally tied to him because getting the fair and correct amount of assets when fighting an abusive man is so difficult. Brad is trash.
This is EXACTLY what i am going through. And add to it messy shit system and banks and tbh i feel so trapped sometimes i see no way out. Somedays i just have no will for anything. I can’t believe it is possible to feel so stuck:((
I’m so sorry Ohlala. I lost completely in my divorce from an abusive man because I did not have any money unlike him with his family money and it was terrible. You are doing the right thing in fighting, just as Angie is, even though it is unbearably difficult.
Same.
Like so many things in the US, the family court system is long overdue for reform. Unless you are in it, you have no idea how bad it is. There is no logic, no fairness, truth does not win out without a lengthy and expensive fight and even then, it’s not certain to.
Center your kids in court, and it will be okay. My case lasted a decade. I didn’t want his money: I wanted my kid to be safe. Ask the judge for the kids to have their own lawyer. Both parties need to agree that the kids should have their own lawyer. With an abuser, you have to make it sound in court like it will be in his interest. The court appointed lawyer will be paid for by the state, and will advocate for your child. In my case, she knew instantly that my ex was abusive – he didn’t allow my kid to talk to her lawyer alone, which is a HUGE red flag!
Keep the faith. It will be hard. You will be changed, by your kids will come out of it better than if you didn’t fight.
Thanks @souperkay! I am in Ireland and in this divorce limbo 6 years already. Legally and financially attached to a man i have nothing to do with fir years…it is so disheartening.
So sorry Ohlala. Hoping you get some kind of resolution soon.
What her team wants people to remember, is if it’s about her kids she won’t back down and that one of the experts is a domestic violence specialist. I don’t know about you but any parent wouldn’t back down if they were my kids and even less if it’s about violence. Team AJ
Then why sit in legal limbo when you have the dirt and experts to conclude the case in your favor?
She’s not the one who’s been delaying throughout, Pitt is. And this time, the delays are due to COVID, as ALL cases have been delayed in California.
Julie, this is about children already involved in an abuse case. Jolie and Pitt don’t have much control over what happens with the kids at this point. They lost that after the first filing alleging abuse against children (Maddox). And the State of California does EVERYTHING it can to reunite children with parents, so they will be in court litigating this until the youngest kid turns 16 and can say, “I want to live with my dad and visit my mom”, or “I want to stay with each half time”, or, “”I hate them both and I want to be emancipated.”
Once the state became involved in the abuse allegations, they lost control. The only control they have is through their lawyers, but the judge decides. And he may be paid privately, but he is still representing the State as a judge mandated to uphold the laws against the abuse of children. Please read Gretta’s long, well-written comment below.
Got it. But wasn’t the child abuse thing dismissed? I don’t follow this case closely but I do distinctly remember Family Services issuing a statement that they had found no child abuse but that there was an incident that had created distrust between father and kids. I also remember that Brad and Angelina then privately agreed to implement safeguards which we all guessed was to force him into sobriety. I could have sworn this legally ceased to be a child abuse case when within months of the incident DCFS exited. Also, if it’s a child abuse case wouldn’t there have been criminal proceedings?
There would not have necessarily been criminal proceedings: It likely went to the DA, and the DA would have rejected it because no one was bruised or dead. My daughter’s case went to the DA, and the DA rejected it for lack of evidence. Her word about what happened to her 8 months prior while at her dad’s house, and the fact that she told her counselor in JHS who reported to CPS, was NOT enough evidence, and she was safe with me at that point, so they didn’t prosecute him.
In the Pitt-Jolie case, Pitt allegedly has substance abuse issues, and that puts kids in danger. Because of what happened with Maddox on the plane, the case is now swept up into the way abuse is handled. They are all stuck until the youngest is 16, or until Pitt’s team proves they are interested in putting the well-being if the kids first. Judges hate power jockeying attorneys and will rule against them if they send what the court believes is irrelevant BS, like false or easily disputed allegations. My ex LOVED filing lies about me. I haven’t read their filings, but it seems that Pitt is trying to use charm and mysogyny in the court of public opinion. Judges hate that, too, so how Pitt is being treated by the court is not completely surprising to me.
@Julie
CPS never issued any kind of statement absolving Pitt of child abuse. At the conclusion of the CPS investigation, Angelina’s reps issued a statement stating they had come to an agreement that CPS had signed off on with both parties. That is the agreement Pitt’s surrogates insisted did not exist to all their media contacts. This is also the same agreement Angelina went to court to enforce when Pitt wanted to get around it. It was confirmation that Maddox and Pax refused to see him and he wanted their time allotted to the younger kids. That’s when we all learned he was required to have ongoing drug tests and he ran to court to have it sealed before more damaging info could come out.
The one thing I have noticed about this custody case is, if Angelina has something to say publically, she releases a statement with a named source. She doesn’t go to Page Six and US Weekly to hide behind anonymous “sources”.
There wasn’t any abuse; even the private judge who has SEEN EVERY BIT OF EVIDENCE in relation to this case ordered Jolie to get a doctor to tell every kid – in Jolie’s presence – they were safe with Pappa Pitt. This was the same time he warned her she was at risk of losing custody with her alienating her kids from their father. This is why I think he probably gave Maddox a drunken shove on the plane and it was nothing more. Yes, not acceptable but hardly abuse.
This is just an opinion but I do not believe Pitt was a good father in the lead-up to her filing and I suspect he was distant or absent – strictly speaking this is neglect, not abuse in the sense we’re using the word in this instant. But maybe he’s changed and inevitably kids do better with both parents in their lives as long as they’re not abusive and he has shown he wants to be a part of their lives (even if he perhaps runs off to do films and promotions 6 months of the year).
I don’t know, maybe what Angelina wants is not possible? I may be the minority here but I don’t think Brad has really smeared Angelina in public. I think he’s doing PR for himself, sure. I’ve read that Angelina wants full custody, and that that’s not a real possibility, maybe that’s why the lawyers are dropping out.
I think CAA are pretty evil against any celeb they don’t represent
His people were leaking from the start he wouldn’t publicly smear the mother of his children, but it’s gotten ugly and he’s had to defend himself. I think Jolie is very protective and family oriented but if you cross her and lay a finger on one of the kids, you’re dead. That’s what their ex-bodyguard said – he said she would have sucker punched Pitt if he’d so much as laid a finger on one of the kids.
Having briefly looked at the court documents it doesn’t seem that AJ has been stalling that much. Rather a lot seems to be coming down to finances on BP’s part. I believe he’s still yet to fully disclose his finance yet AJ’s side did so in a timely manner. Plus he claimed that the costs incurred for the judge were causing irreparable harm or something to that degree – basically money and fame seems to BPs game.
My sister went through a similar divorce and she said the worst part wasn’t in the marriage but after. The abuse escalated and the alienation and vindictive behaviour continued to dominate her life (still does tbh)
The youngest kids are 12? Seems like which parent they live with / visit should be up to them.
In CA, kids get to choose at around 16. That’s when my kid was able to decide she never wanted to see her dad again. At 12, the court still wants to reunite all children with all parents.
How do you force a 13-15 yo to do anything? Do they drag them into the car and lock them in the other parent’s house for the weekend? And what if it’s not the non custodial parent’s weekend and the kid really wants to see their mom or dad? The kids can be stopped from visiting by the custodial parent? It doesn’t seem right.
I think the court urges those kids and the alien parent into counseling together. It also requires the other parent to actively urge the reconciliation too since kids take a lot of their cues from their primary parent.
Julie is correct, and so are you, Aang, you are so right saying that you can’t force a kid to do anything. It happens in reunification therapy.
In our case, my daughter was completely alienated from me, but she lived with him. I had a restraining order and full custody, but he’d brainwashed her. The police had to intervene to remove her from his custody when the court determined that he was dangerous. She ran away, but was still in touch with her lawyer. She lived with a family we trusted for two weeks before she came home. Eventually, after almost a year of therapy, when she felt safe, she admitted to her therapist that he tried to kill her.
It is f-ing hard, but it can be done.
Greenburg Glusker’s profile of Sopori:
In addition to her cannabis expertise, Priya has extensive business litigation and trial experience involving intellectual property, copyright and trade-secret protection, licensing agreements for music and internet/television rights, international film financing and distribution, employer discrimination and sexual harassment, securities litigation, entertainment litigation, wrongful death, and white-collar crime.
Priya has won numerous defense verdicts, including a multimillion-dollar employment discrimination suit against a major insurer, and in suits against a successful developer, a noted Hollywood studio, and other high-profile clients. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Central District of California, she indicted some 45 cases, tried numerous multi-week jury trials, and successfully prosecuted federal sex crimes against women and children, white-collar fraud, and cybercrimes, obtaining convictions.
The way this story is being framed is funny to me, the notice of withdrawal was filed exactly 21 days ago. I’m curious did the daily fail even know who Priya Sopori is, and that she represented Angelina until yesterday, because the exclusive at 6 clock thing 3 weeks later is funny.
Until 3 weeks ago Angelina had 3 law firms representing her. When she filed for divorce in 2016, she hired 2 L.A. based law firms Wasser, Cooperman and Mandles meaning Laura Wasser, and Greenberg Glusker where Priya Sopori is a partner. In 2018 when she replaced Wasser, she hired Bley and Bley and the firm Hersh Mannis, James Simon a partner is who represents her from that firm. The two firms joined Greenberg Glusker. Samantha Bley is her lead counsel, I have no idea who does what, but they had a hearing a few months ago and it was Bley and Simon who made appearances as her attorneys on the day. So now she has 2 firms and not 3 representing her. So this is a non story.
The way the media tries to make Angelina seem like an evil unreasonable banshee in this case, is in direct contrast to the court filings and documents. Bley sounds calm and very reasonable in all her pleadings, it’s actually annoying how reasonable she is when the other side isn’t at all, but they’re playing the long game. Pitt and Spiegel are currently quietly getting their asses handed to them, it’s all self inflicted and wasn’t necessary, its funny. He has filed 3 Ex parte applications the last few weeks which have all been denied, when its law 101 and common sense really that they can’t go ahead because the issue of Ouderkirk still hasn’t been resolved. There is a general order due to Covid, that’s not Angelina’s doing. Angelina and Bley asked Pitt if both parties could mutually withdraw judge Ouderkirks consent to hear this case, and instead have this matter proceed in front of a L.A. superior court judge so that things could move ahead, and Pitt refused. He seems weirdly attached to this particular judge which is odd, and gives credence to shenaginans with the judge . He tried to claim an emergency in his last ex parte application was because they would lose money because he had already paid the judge and wanted special treatment. Angelina on the other hand has refused to pay the judge until the issue of his disqualification is resolved. Bley called it self inflicted and that he only has himself to blame for this delay.
The bigger story here is that Pitt filed an RFO to modify custody, because he’s trying to change the current custody agreement where he only has supervised visitation. So how does a rich white man not have custody of his children in California a default 50/50 state? Let’s not forget the 7 trauma specialists that the kids have been seeing for 4 years, but yes evil Angelina. Long story short, this hearing to modify custody at Pitts request by the way, isn’t going ahead this year. Their next court date was set months ago for December 21, and then they have the issue of the 3042 RFO in January 2021. And Ouderkirks term expires at the end of this year, so he’s out either way.
Preach, Greta! But no one cares about facts, let’s roll with Daily Fail “Jolie is a b…” narrative.
thank you for being a voice of reason.
Greta, the nightmare you describe has triggered me, which means that I completely agree with your explanation of the court docs and your take on how the media portrays this case. It’s the same crap my kid and I went through. Thank you for reading and explaining for the folks in the back.
This is actually v informative. Although I would say that the reason Brad doesnt want to go to the main courts is because it’s difficult to contain leaks. I think it’s clear that there’s dirt on him. The question is whether it’s enough to deny him custody. I don’t think it is, otherwise she would be urgently trying to get the custody resolved asap. But I do think that whatever the dirt is, it’s extremely damning in the court of public opinion. Maybe it’s recordings like in the Depp Heard case. Either way, I think that’s why he’s stuck with private judges. Now wouldnt a new private judge then require more delays to appraise himself of the case before scheduling a hearing? That’s probably why they are sticking to the original judge.
Thank you for going the extra mile and researching the facts, instead of just quoting from the tabloids, Greta! I really appreciate your overview.
You are right that the timing of this article is curious. Does Brad have something coming up he wants to deflect attention from?
Is 50/50 really the default in California? It isn’t here in Texas, which follows the Standard (“SPO”) or Expanded Standard Possession Schedule (“EPO”). Under the EPO, it’s about a 46/54 split with an overnight during the week and alternating weekends. I don’t believe that a 50/50 schedule is always in the child’s best interest, particularly if the kids aren’t in school and the parents are acrimonious (too many exchanges and opportunities for conflict at the exchanges) or if the parents live far from one another (too many exchanges and, thus, too much time spent in the car getting kiddos from one period of visitation to the next).
@Greta THANK YOU SO MUCH 👏👏👏👏 for speaking the truth. It’s so disheartening how blatently dishonest Brad Pitt’s PR laden outlets are in spreading such one sides attacks and defaming Jolie. Despite knowing she’s not attacking him. It’s like his team, his lawyer, his bought media outlets, just can’t stop themsleves for spreading defamatory lies against Angelina even making stuff about her lawyers to attack her. It’s disheartening the treatment Angelina gets in the hands of Pitt and his support group.
@ Greta:
Thank you for the detailed explanation on this.
By the way, exactly how does one go about being to read all the court documents and such? Medical, I know and know how to research, legal not so much
Thanks!!!
Court filings are often available on the county’s district clerk website unless there’s a protective order.
Thanks Grant!!
I have physical pain just thinking about the millions of dollars poured down the drain in legal fees from this one divorce. What a mess when you get emotive about a divorce. If I were dictator of the world, I’d dismiss all the lawyers, force 50/50 custody right away, and split their finances right down the middle. All done and just saved you probably another three million dollars or more (not counting opportunity costs from time wasted and reputational damage and lost sponsorships which I’m 100% sure both Pitt and Jolie have missed out on due to HOW they’ve pursued this divorce). You’re welcome! 🙂
Having been through a ridiculously long and dragged-out divorce because my exh is a narc, the toll this takes is extreme.
What I learned is lawyer hopping is a sign that the client doesn’t like what the lawyer is advising so you find one who will promise you what you want. It’s expensive and EXHAUSTING.
I’m not either AJ or Brad, obviously, so I’m not privy to all the thinly veiled “this went down on the private jet,” but the lawyers make dough and ego 100% drives this. If they were smart and actually cared about the kids they’d have dinner and work it out and set down the win win win win ego ego ego. Millions of couples have done and do do this. Having said this, one of them is a narc, or both, so this isn’t possible in this divorce.
Just my two cents.
Remember there were those pics of these two in a therapist’s office; they got papped through the windows? She looked so sad. They tried “dinner and work it out” with a therapist but it didn’t work. This went toxic years ago, before she filed. They need a dictator to tell them what to do and see upthread for my post for what I’d force them to do.
Isn’t this always the narrative. Beat up Angelina. This is why I support her azz. She has to be the poster child for hating and slander!
The thing I find most interesting is the domestic violence expert being called to give testimony. I hope she becomes a more vocal advocate against DV, I know she’s touched on it in interviews but she could bring so much awareness about the issue.
I agree, perhaps she’s holding her tongue to protect the kids and the court process.
Interestingly she’s been doing loads of work over the past few weeks with informing children about their rights (BBC News programme, Amnesty Book, UNESCO paper). I think I like AJ, and perhaps in the future there’ll be more awareness spread on DV which is so very needed.
I hope so, too. She would be an excellent advocate, but she can’t until this is all over. But I’m looking forward to her Becoming a DV advocate.
There was an interview she did once after the separation where she said she didn’t always feel safe. I’ve always seen her as this larger than life character so it really made me rethink the way I saw her, and not just her but other women too. Just because a person is confident, it doesn’t mean that they are strong all the time or that they are safe from certain harms. I hope she touches this topic in the future.
Just watched Big Little Lies. Reminded me of this situation.
Ok, I hadn’t caught that. I assumed DV expert was for the child abuse claim. So is the speculation that he was physically assaulting her when Maddox stepped in? I always interpreted it as a verbal altercation maybe I missed the language. Anyhow, wow if that’s the case. It wouldn’t surprise me but woah at the contrast between that and their image as the golden couple. Just goes to show ya, nothing on that red carpet is real.
Alyce Laviolette?!? Does no one else remember her trainwreck of testimonies at the Jodi Arias trial? She is a hack who enters into paid cases willing to agree to look for predetermined outcomes, and is unable to differentiate between evaluations and treatment. I don’t know which party thought she’d be a good witness, but of 330 million people this is who you’d choose?
I was watching for someone to mention that! She acted so smug on the witness stand, smiling at her own comments, thinking that she was owning the prosecution. I wonder if she ever allowed herself to realize that Jodi Arias totally conned her.
As a family lawyer, I’m always wary of potential clients who have transitioned through multiple, previous attorneys. In my experience, those clients often have unrealistic expectations about the process, their case, and likely outcomes. Not saying this is the case with Angelina although I’d be interested to see how many attorneys Pitt has had.
There also isn’t a trial date either likely because of COVID. Many counties have indefinitely suspended jury and bench trials due to the ongoing pandemic and social distancing concerns. We are going to have a huge backlog of cases on our dockets once court proceedings do resume.
Grant as a family lawyer you would have seen she has only replaced one lawyer the whole time. She isn’t lawyer hopping nor has she fired the one named.
My response was based solely off of what was posted in this article. I have not read any of the pleadings in the Pitt/Jolie case so take what I said with a grain of salt.
Grant, I am a Family Lawyer as well. I am not licensed to practice in California, but in my jurisdiction, delays and cancellations and extensions are fairly freely given due to COVID.
I have to agree with you that I too am very wary of potential clients who have transitioned through multiple previously attorneys.
She is not transitioning – she let go of one of the three that she has. Maybe she didn’t need her expertise any more?
I’m an Angie fan, but it’s time to give up the ghost.
I see we have the “lawyers out today”, right on time as usual. Are you the “family lawyer ground Control from Female First and Just Jared Site”, the staunch Brad Pitt Only supporters?
@Katharine. lol it’s funny isn’t it. They should just fire the lawyers and court because all these opinion arm chair lawyers know exactly what’s going on. They would be just like Oderkirk getting ousted because of biasness.
The court of public opinion has Brad winning and so does his criminally insane sleazy lawyers. Yet they can’t get one RFO approved!
Guess they can’t control and pay off everyone. There is a law abiding process to as if they didn’t know.
And I hope Angie gets the LA Sup court open trial so the world can see what they need to see.
Doesn’t that go both ways though? None of us are the parties to this suit and none of us represent Jolie or Pitt. People are making guesses (some informed, some not) based on what’s been made public, but every single person in this post is being an “armchair lawyer.” People who are 100% pro Jolie and 100% anti Pitt are probably wrong, and people who feel the other way are also probably wrong.
Knox looks so much like Angelina’s brother.
Oh my gosh!!!! He really does!
This is the most ridiculous divorce…honestly, the youngest kids are already 12 and by CA family court rules they have the right to a court appointed advocate who will speak on their behalf for what they want. And the court weighs this very heavily when deciding custody. It may be that the judge will agree to no overnights, but to regular visitation. But that means neither parent can go hob-knobbing around the planet for work until the last kids are 16. But that doesn’t bode well for two jet-setting actors. Brad must have been freaking awful for this to drag on for so long.
Eye-watering millions wasted on lawyers in this divorce. These kids deserve better. Mama Bear Jolie and (most probably absent or distant) Papa Pitt need to skip the lawyers and do everything right down the middle: 50-50 custody and finances.
This is just a horribly sad situation. They looked like a picture perfect family. I have no idea how the courts will rule in this case. He’s asking for 50/50 custody. She won’t agree to that. I’m sure she has her reasons (probably long term sobriety). Does anyone know what her counter offer is? Does she want him to have visitation without custody? Does she want to continue monitored visitation? Does she want a higher percentage of custody? I really hope they can resolve this at some point so they can put this behind them and heal as a family. The only winners in this situation are the lawyers, on both sides.
Anonymous no one really knows what her counter offer is but a judge is gonna have to decide because evidently both of them are stubborn af and won’t budge. I’m sure right now Pitt is asking for more time and 50/50. He should get that if he is sober and has taken the steps needed and put in the work for something that shouldn’t have taken place anyway. But his mistake is trying to force a court and bribe a judge. That is crazy to me. You are shooting yourself in the foot.
If you want the truth to all of this, people should really read the court filings. Simple as that. Court filings show the exact opposite of these stories that come out in the tabloids.
That’s why its not Angie’s team leaking these stories to the tabloids. Oh my, who’s team could it be? Doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.
Gotcha, you are right. A judge will need to decide for them. Unfortunately, this will drag out for a really long time because of COVID. It’s just so sad. They would both say what a wonderful parent the other was. They both seemed so hands on and invested in their family. Hopefully, once this is over they can find some peace.
I do not understand why this site continues to use the Daily Mailas the primary source for its posts. I just do not understand.
Lol. I feel ya on this. Daily Mail is the worst. Lies on top of more lies.
We also live in L.A county, my sister filed in 2016 a month before Angelina did. My Sister’s divorce is STILL NOT FINAL. We are not famous or rich, my sister has a now 14 year old, who’s father has agreed to visitation with my sister getting full custody.
It is insane that it is taking so long, my sisters divorce is as uncomplicated as it gets. My BIL doesn’t even have a lawyer, didn’t contest it, signed papers regarding custody
AND THEY ARE STILL MARRIED
So Angelina being married does not have to mean it’s her fault
All true but having a private judge (being rich enough to hire one) means you’re not in the public system, which can be jammed with heavy caseloads.
Good grief. At this point these two are just dragging this whole thing out to make eachother miserable. It’s getting old and boring. I can’t imagine what the kids think.
October 30, 2020 at 12:25 am
“Even the guy who strikes his kid while drunk is forgiveable.”
Would you say the same if it was a wife being struck by her drunken husband?