Simple all-fetching method for a base model in Laravel 5+

attr.php

    /**
     * Retrieve an attribute value, or a default value, depending on if attribute is set
     * @param  string $attribute name of attribute
     * @param  mixed  $default   the default value
     * @return mixed             the attribute
     */
    public function attr($attribute, $default = null)
    {
        if (isset($this->attributes[$attribute]) && $this->attributes[$attribute] != null) {
            return $this->attributes[$attribute];
        } elseif (strpos($attribute, '.') !== false) {
            // Allow "dot notation" for fetching values
            list($table, $column) = explode('.', $attribute);
            if($this->{$table}) {
                if (isset($this->{$table}->{$column}) && $this->{$table}->{$column} != null) {
                    return $this->{$table}->{$column};
                }
            }

        }

        return $default;
    }