Kris Humphries has filed legal documents in his divorce case appointing himself as his own lawyer ... TMZ has learned.

Kris -- who makes $8 mil a year with the New Jersey Nets -- wanted his Minnesota business lawyer to rep him in the Kim Kardashian divorce. But in California, an out-of-state lawyer must have a local attorney by his side. So Kris hired a Los Angeles lawyer.

But we found out the L.A. lawyer has withdrawn from the case, so the Minnesota lawyer doesn't have a sponsor anymore. Translation: Mr. Minnesota is persona non grata in court.

As if that's not bad enough for Kris ... guess who he's squaring off with in court? That would be disso-queen Laura Wasser, one of the most powerful divorce lawyers in Hollywood with a celeb roster that includes Britney Spears, Maria Shriver, Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie, Ryan Reynolds, Kiefer Sutherland, Stevie Wonder ... get the picture.

Bottom line -- Kris has no chance on this court ...


A source close to Kris tells TMZ ... the bballer does not intend to rep himself. His Minnesota lawyer will look for another sponsor. And this is rich ... we're told the Minnesota lawyer is telling people he's not afraid of Laura Wasser because he's tried hundreds of cases.

Mel Gibson and soon-to-be ex-wife Robyn have settled their divorce case.



Robyn Gibson's lawyer, disso-queen Laura Wasser, appeared before the judge this morning and announced Mel and Robyn have reached full agreement on the terms of their divorce ... in particular, the property settlement.

The lawyers are drafting the final paperwork and the judgment is expected to be entered at the end of August, making the divorce official.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is pulling out a big gun for his inevitable divorce battle with Maria Shriver ... officially hiring attorney Bob Kaufman -- who's already tackling some touchy issues of the split. 


Sources tell TMZ ... Kaufman's already been in touch with Maria's attorney, Laura Wasser -- and we're told they are "moving forward" with divorce negotiations.

Kaufman and Wasser have gone head-to-head on other high profile celebrity splits -- and both specialize in something Arnold and Maria value right now ... keeping divorce settlements hush hush.

Maria Shriver has hired one of the toughest divorce lawyers around, but she hasn't pulled the trigger on ending her marriage.



Sources connected with Maria tell TMZ ... she's hired disso-queen Laura Wasser, who has repped just about everyone in Hollywood, including Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera.

As TMZ first reported, Maria has been miserable in her marriage for several years and wanted out.  We're told Maria hired Laura significantly before the news of Arnold Schwarzenegger's baby mama broke, but Maria has been conflicted over whether to file for divorce -- partly because Arnold still has strong emotional influence over her and he wants her back.

Christina Aguilera filed for divorce a little more than a week ago, but already there's a little conflict.



We've learned Christina's lawyer, disso-queen Laura Wasser, filed legal docs disqualifying the assigned judge from hearing the case.

L.A. County Superior Court Judge Elia Weinbach ... fairly new on the divorce circuit ... won't be hearing the case, but we're guessing it's nothing personal.

Wasser's firm has a pretty ironclad rule to handle high-profile divorces with private judges.  Translation -- they're usually handled behind closed doors.

Slash has filed for divorce, TMZ has learned, and it's gonna get ugly.



According to legal docs just filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Slash -- real name Saul Hudson -- cites irreconcilable differences. Slash and wife Perla Ferrar have two boys, age 6 and 8.  Slash is asking for joint physical and legal custody.

Sources close to the couple tell TMZ the breakup is extremely acrimonious.

Slash, who is repped by disso-queen Laura Wasser, is willing to pay spousal support, according to the docs. There is no prenup.

The couple was married in October 2001. Slash lists the date of separation as July 15, 2010.

Kate Walsh has settled her nasty divorce with Alex Young, and Kate did pretty well for herself ... sources tell TMZ.


We got this video of the "Private Practice" star leaving court late yesterday with her lawyer, disso queen Laura Wasser. Walsh and Young were in court all day hashing out the settlement.

Here's what TMZ knows: Alex wanted several million bucks, but according to the court documents, he ended up with $627,000 for his share of the community property. Alex wanted spousal support but was shut down by the judge. Kate gets the house. They split the artwork and furniture.

Alex also gets half the residuals for the "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" episodes Kate filmed while they were married.

There are mutual restraining orders prohibiting each from harassing the other.

Mind you ... they only lived together as husband and wife for 14 months.

Attention gold diggers! There's another successful rich dude who's officially on the market -- Interscope Records kingpin Jimmy Iovine.

TMZ has learned Iovine's marriage is officially over today. The terms are confidential, but the deal was sealed in L.A. County Superior Court -- where disso-queen Laura Wasser showed up with her two kids and an eight month belly full of unborn kid ... and looking good we might add.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Maybe it's true love, maybe it's for the welfare of the child, or maybe it's because of the title of his new show -- whatever it is, Patricia Arquette has called off her divorce to Thomas Jane.



Arquette filed for divorce back in January, citing irreconcilable differences -- apparently they were, in fact, reconcilable. She filed legal docs today asking that the divorce petition be dismissed.

And Patricia's change of heart is a good thing for Thomas: Arquette was repped by disso-queen Laura Wasser -- which means he would have been on food stamps by the time she was done with him.

Kate Walsh's accounting firm did not get the protective order it was after -- the judge felt it wasn't necessary to order estranged hubby Alex Young to stop demanding financial info.

Young has been on the firm's ass, demanding to know exactly how much he's owed for the house he and Kate purchased together. Fact is -- the house has gone down in value since they bought it in 2007.

Alex has not only made repeated demands on the firm, but today in court Kate's lawyer, disso-queen Laura Wasser, said he's been on ABC network's ass as well, demanding financial info. Wasser said ABC will be asking for a protective order against Young. Famous pit bull lawyer Marty Singer (one of Walsh's lawyer's) will also ask for a protective order this morning.

Young's lawyer, Jeff Sturman, told us, "The judge found there was no basis for a protective order ... that the accounting firm filed it's motion prematurely and without attempting to informally resolve matters. And the accounting firm was required to pay approximately $6,100 in Young's fees."

The couple was only married for 14 months before separating.

The ex of Jimmy Iovine may have thought she was the one doing the dumping when she filed for divorce last week, but apparently Jimmy checked out of the marriage long before she did.

According to Jimmy's response filed yesterday, the couple separated on January 15. But Vicky Iovine is under the impression the marriage ended a month later on February 15.

And get this -- despite being worth more than almost everyone, Jimmy wants each side to pay their own legal fees.

But Jimmy's got one powerful thing on his side -- Disso Queen Laura Wasser is his lawyer.