Judith L. Poller

Spear’s Review

The lawyer of choice for notable HNWs – ‘My clients are high-end because my billing rate is high,’ she says – Judith Poller of Pryor Cashman has acted for stars such as Scarlett Johansson and Drew Barrymore. 

‘Privacy is a huge concern to celebrity clients,’ she explains. ‘People are so interested in their lives, and the fact that they are going through a divorce only makes them more interesting. I do my best to make sure that their divorce doesn’t play out in the press.

‘My goal is to find out what exactly is going on, what they need to the extent that there are various emotional levels involved. And so I try and really home in on what they need emotionally to get through this. Some don’t necessarily need the emotional, but they need the strategic plan of, “What is it that has to be done here?”’

Dubbed by the US press as the ‘Hollywood Troubleshooter’, Poller’s work is varied. ‘I do everything from pre-nuptial agreements to paternity suits, divorce, cohabitation issues ... the whole gamut,’ she says.

Poller frequently lectures on family law and appears in media commenting on legal issues.