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Are you certain she released it?

No, of course not. But how would that paralegal get access to that message? Are you suggesting that this was given to the attorney and that a paralegal got ahold of it? Do know the kind of breach of ethics it entails? Would you retain an attorney who let this happen? If this is the case, why don't we hear more messages of cell phones of celebrities?

We are all speculating here. We do know that Baldwin is being pilloried and has been denied virtually any contact with his child. The Basinger team has already used this as a weapon to deny him total contact with the child. Who benefits here?

Of course it's all speculation...which is why I asked if you were certain Basinger released it...your #17 said so in affirmative terms, and the last I heard, Basinger denied having released it. I'm assuming Basinger turned the recording over to her attorney. Any responsible attorney would have made a copy of it before preparing its submission to the court. Depending on the format in which Basinger provided the attorney, it's very possible that the law office was not prepared or equipped to duplicate the recording and had it outsourced. No doubt the attorney had their paralegal prepare the documentation to present to the court. The judge's clerks and file clerks in the family court likewise, would have had generally unfettered access to the file and enclosures.

There are several lower paid persons in the loop here who could have been tempted by a lucrative offer for a copy of the tape, and realizing what they had, may have even shopped around for the best offer...

Of course their would have been a violation of ethics, but as we know, money all too often trumps that in our society.

Yes, it's speculation on my part that somebody besides Basinger released the recording, but it's speculation on your part that Basinger did it herself. Moreover, Basinger did not need a public release of the recording to benefit from it in regards to the custody issue, and assuming she's a responsible parent, would have resisted the unwanted attention it brought to her daughter.

I think it's just as likely (if not moreso) that others in the loop had more to gain in their relative personal circumstances, and TMZ.com certainly had enough to gain from the notoriety/publicity to probably pay a fairly handsome sum for it.