FOR SCHAEFER, A ROLE THAT SUITS HIM : DANIEL SCHAEFER: IT’S A TV ROLE THAT SUITS HIM

When Daniel Schaefer took his place in the courtroom for an episode of “Divorce Court,” he brought a special realism to his ongoing role in the syndicated television series.

The verisimilitude did not stem from any special steps that he took in preparing for the part of a divorce attorney. Schaefer is able to portray a lawyer with such precision because in his non-acting hours, that’s exactly what he is. Or rather, exactly who Daniel Rosenberg is--Schaefer is his stage name.

“It’s the only divorce work I’ve ever done,” Rosenberg said of his role as lawyer Keith Fields on “Divorce Court.” “And it’s the only time I’ve ever lost a case.”

The 30-year-old advocate-turned-thespian is a partner with Stein & Kahan, an entertainment litigation firm in Santa Monica. The firm recently filed well-publicized lawsuits on behalf of actress Kathleen Turner and actor Sean Connery.

But Rosenberg leads a double life, in which legal redress can also mean a costume change. When not in his pin-striped suit, the trim-looking, dark-haired lawyer spends his spare time in acting classes or practicing his singing and tap-dancing.

In his brief career as a performer, Rosenberg has appeared in the soap opera “The Days of Our Lives” and played a starring role in a low-budget feature film, “Revival House.” He also played a criminal attorney in “Criminal Court,” another syndicated program using actual court dockets as inspiration for fictionalized cases.

“There are great similarities between litigation and acting,” Rosenberg said during a recent downtown lunch between court appearances. “You try to make everything come out of your heart. There are two sides to everything in life, and in the courtroom. You have to find the harmony in the situation you’re dealing with.”

Isn’t switching from method acting to making motions more schizophrenic than harmonious? Rosenberg doesn’t think so. “Lawyers have this idea of themselves as staid and proper people. I don’t picture myself as that. I try to be as unconservative in my work in the courtroom as I am on the stage. I try to use my acting ability all the time.”

Rosenberg’s pursuit of an acting career has met with mixed reactions at Stein & Kahan. “It’s a real conflict for us,” acknowledges Robert Kahan. “Daniel is a special person. He’s a very good lawyer, which is why we let him do this. He works very hard.”

Says Larry Stein: “I think Daniel is a very talented lawyer and his ability to express himself is an asset in the litigation field.”

If Rosenberg achieves success in the entertainment field as quickly as he has in the practice of law, he’ll be pleased. Although with Stein & Kahan only since mid-1981, he was made a partner in the firm earlier this year.

The son of movie producer Frank Rosenberg (“One-Eyed Jacks”), Daniel grew up in Brentwood and went to Boalt Law School in Berkeley, serving as an editor of the law review and graduating in 1979.

“I always had a love for the entertainment business,” he remembers. “Even though I never worshiped movie stars, I always knew I wanted to do something artistic.” The opportunity came in Rosenberg’s third year of law school, when he took an acting class. “It conflicted with my estates and trusts class, so I started skipping that.”

The dual urges of law and drama have been warring within him ever since. “I could never stop acting,” Rosenberg said with a passion that could convince a jury of his sincerity. “I have to act. I also enjoy practicing law. I don’t want to choose, but if someone made me make a choice, I’d have to give up being a lawyer.”

For now, no one’s forcing the issue. Rosenberg has to maintain a minimum number of hours a month on his cases at Stein & Kahan, although he said he has consistently exceeded the minimum. “As long as I win my cases and get my work done, I can come and go as I please,” he said.

Rosenberg’s successful career as a lawyer removes the financial pressures that face most actors and, as he put it, “It’s a lot less anxiety-inducing than waiting on tables.” Conflicts between courtroom appearances and classroom acting sessions have been infrequent, but Rosenberg acknowledges, “If a trial was going on, I’d have to finish it, but that’s never come up. Just getting through the day can require unbelievable planning, however.”

The next matter on Rosenberg’s acting docket is to do some local stage work, while continuing his classes with acting teacher Milton Katselas. “This is not a hobby for me,” Rosenberg said, “I don’t do this for relaxation or therapy. I just do it because I have to.”

They say the Grammys are a circus, so it’s appropriate that the press area in the Shrine Exposition Hall adjacent to the Shrine Auditorium is set up like a side show, with the performers going from one curtained stage to another--first facing the still photographers, then the print media and then the television crews. If some of the stars seemed cranky, it might be bacause they’d survived the bellowing, shouting photographers.