Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's Fight Over Legal Fees Could Become Its Own Court Battle

Justin Baldoni is challenging Blake Lively’s request for more than $8 million in attorneys’ fees and litigation costs, opening a new front in the legal battle tied to It Ends With Us.

In a July 13 filing, Baldoni, 42, and Wayfarer Studios asked Judge Lewis Liman to deny or “substantially reduce” Lively’s request, arguing that her attorneys charged “excessive” hourly rates and overstaffed the case.

Lively, 38, is seeking $7,495,526.87 in attorneys’ fees and $539,514.01 in litigation costs and expenses after the court dismissed Baldoni’s defamation-related claims against her.

The filing argues that Lively’s request is “anything but a typical fee motion.”

Baldoni’s attorneys pointed to their case against The New York Times as a comparison, noting that the newspaper sought $181,622.70 in attorneys’ fees after securing dismissal of what they described as “precisely the same defamation claim.” Baldoni previously sued the Times for $250 million over its reporting that he and his PR team had engaged in a “smear campaign” against Lively. That claim was later dismissed.

A Lively source told People there were major differences between the Times case and Lively’s case, including that the Times did not face a lengthy discovery process before dismissal.

Baldoni’s filing also claims Lively’s team billed 7,070.20 hours by 82 timekeepers, alleging “multiple lawyers at the same hearings” and “numerous charges for lawyers conferencing, conferring, or strategizing with one another.”

“It's all about the ‘reasonableness’ of the fee requests, measured as a function of time spent and hourly rate,” explained attorney, author and law instructor Danny Karon, who is not involved in the case. “Some judges cap hourly rates; others scrutinize time spent. Some do both, and some do neither.”

Karon noted that parties sometimes bring in experts to evaluate fee requests, though that can add another expensive layer to the fight.

“Lawyers seeking fees pull out all the stops, as getting paid is essential to staying in business, just as it is for anyone else,” he said.

“Celebrity litigation often requires larger legal teams because of expedited motion practice, extensive discovery, crisis management, and the reputational consequences surrounding the case,” said Tisha Morris, founder of Legacy Arts Law, who is also not involved in the case

“If the court concludes there was overstaffing, excessive conferencing among attorneys, or billing rates that exceed what the market reasonably supports, it has broad discretion to reduce the award,” she added.

The legal saga began after the production and promotion of It Ends With Us. The broader litigation settled in May with neither party receiving money, leaving the court to decide whether Baldoni must pay Lively’s legal fees and costs, and if so, how much.