We knew these legal fees would be pricey, but DAMN!!!
Blake Lively has submitted her formal request for attorneys’ fees and litigation costs from Justin Baldoni after his countersuit was dismissed, and it’s a jaw-dropper! According to a filing submitted on Monday and viewed by People, the 38-year-old seeks $7,495,526.87 in attorneys’ fees and $539,514.01 in litigation costs and expenses incurred during the “successful defense of the Wayfarer Action.” Wow! That’s $8,035,040.88 in total.
Related: The VERY Unlikely Celeb Plotting Blake Lively’s Hollywood Comeback!
Her legal team said the work required in this case was “comprehensive and necessary to achieve the complete win that was secured.” (Hmm.. calling it a “complete win” are we??
And this isn’t even the final amount of money she wants! The lawyers pointed out that Blake will seek “any additional attorneys’ fees” incurred in fighting this fee request!
As for the cost, the filing said the unusually high profile nature of the It Ends With Us battle made the legal fight more expensive, citing “significant press attention, with thousands of indexed and syndicated media articles,” as well as a massive discovery including more than 7,000 documents from Blake and tens of thousands from the Wayfarer parties and third parties. They were busy AF working on this case!
Judge Lewis Liman has given Justin’s team until July 13 to respond. The judge will then decide whether to award the full amount, reduce it, or deny portions.
What do YOU expect will happen? Is Blake gonna get all $8 million back? Will Justin fight or try to wrap this up quickly to move on fully? Let us know (below)!
[Image via Gent’s Talk Podcast/NBC/YouTube]