Director Steven Soderbergh Sued in Paternity Case

USMagazine, Friday, February 4, 2011, 6:31am (PST)

An Australian woman claims that Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh, 48, fathered her baby daughter -- and now she's suing him for child support.

Frances Lawrencina Anderson's paternity suit claims the "Erin Brockovich" director helped alleviate medical expenses during her pregnancy, and a DNA test showed he was the father of the baby girl, born in August.

In the lawsuit, filed in a state court in New York on Wednesday, Anderson alleges that Soderbergh "has acknowledged he is the father of the child verbally."

A lawyer for Soderbergh told the New York Post that they were confused as to why Anderson decided to file a lawsuit. "My client is puzzled by the filing because they've been involved in settlement negotiations in Australia since April, Bernard Clair told the tab. "We view this filing as nothing other than an effort to forum-shop, because of the mistaken belief that New York will somehow be more generous to a baby that lives in Australia full-time than the Australian courts."

Soderbergh has been married to novelist and former E! News personality Jules Asner since 2003, and has a daughter with his first wife, Betsy Brantley.

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