Katie will play tough for Suri.

Who is Allan Mayefsky?

Katie Holmes is willing to "play tough" against estranged husband Tom Cruise and she has hired a lawyer identified as 'ruthless' in news reports.

The former 'Dawson's Creek' actress filed for divorce from the 50-year-old actor last week and she has since hired top lawyer Allan E. Mayefsky as she is determined to get sole custody of the couple's six-year-old daughter, Suri.

Well-known legal analyst and author Lisa Bloom told website The Daily Beast:

"She's making it clear she's going to play tough. Cruise is more of a high-profile celebrity than she is, so he has a greater distance to fall if grievances are aired. Everyone has dirty laundry they don't want aired. She's saying play fair with me or else. Of course she would choose an experienced and tough lawyer. But the fact that she'd choose someone who's been known to go to media in the past signals that she might have hired him for that reason."

Lisa believes Katie - who filed for divorce in New York, where courts are more likely to grant custody of a child to one parent - needed to hire someone tough like Mayefsky as he will be able to compete with Tom's legal team.

Lisa - who was on the receiving end of Mayefsky and his team when she divorced Phillip J. Smith, chairman of the Shubert Organization - said: "Katie needs cutthroat lawyers because Tom is really powerful. The dirtier the better, so I think she made a good choice. They are known for being ruthless, and they normally win. They beat the sh**t out of me. They make you out to be the biggest piece of trash there is. It took me a long time to get over it.

"Katie has really good, nasty, horrible lawyers and she should do really well."

© Bang Showbiz