Generally speaking, it is a bad ideas for lawyers to sue their clients. Especially if the client is famous pop icon because the suit has the potential to generate a lot of negative publicity. This is generally true even if the reason for the suit is a failure to pay a legal fee. Insurers typically discourage the practice because it tends to increase the probability of a counterclaim. Consequently, when a law firm sues a client, they typically do so only after a great deal of thought and after a genuine attempt to resolve the dispute has failed.
In this weeks feature story, the law firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Taylor were apparently hired by Prince to help him resolve some financial obligations. Apparently, the legal work was performed; however, Prince did not pay the attorney's fees associated with the legal representation. To obtain more details of the allegations, please read the complaint filed by Patterson Belknap Webb & Taylor in New York state's Supreme Court in Manhattan. The firm apparently alleges that Prince owes them more than $700,000 in attorney's fees. (This sum is apparently in addition to the $125,000 that Prince apparently has already paid them. )
At first blush this may seem like a lot of legal fees; however, the firm apparently represented Prince in separate cases in California, Ireland and New York. They also represented Prince in his divorce. One may reasonably presume that this was no easy task. Consequently, the amount of the legal fees in question may actually be quite reasonable given the amount of work involved. So why have the fees not been paid? The public may not know until Prince's new law firm files an answer to the complaint. While lack of cash flow may come to mind, that excuse is unlikely in Prince's case. Prince recently put on three concerts at the Oracle Arena in Oakland so one may reasonably assume that Prince can still generate enough revenue to pay even the most expensive legal representation.
Perhaps in the end, Prince is just frugal. After all, his dream girl "...wore a raspberry beret, the kind that you buy at a second hand store." Perhaps he was expecting similar pricing on legal fees?
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10 comments:
Viper:
Welcome back.
You know a high powered divorce case would likely pop up on my radar of interest.
Maybe Prince is just a royal cheapskate!
Prince is a good singer but maybe he is not so great with money!
Wow, that must be either a lot of work or a high hourly rate...
I loved that song of prince...
Help me understand why a law firm keeps doing work for you when you have an outstanding bill??????
Well, Secrets, this is just one lawyers opinion... but the duty to represent your client remains until an order withdrawing your reprentation has been approved by the court.
They may have thought Prince was just slow pay and would get around to satisfying the bill. We don't know what conversations took place between the pop singer and his counsel as to when to expect payment.
Fee disputes are never pleasant. Your question is a good one for which I don't know the answer without the law firm involved providing more information.
Thanks for your question.
Viper
I have read that Prince lives in a fantasy world disconnected from reality, his aids have a hard time explaining to him that he cannot just go out and buy a Giraffe at 2AM in the morning…these things take time.
I’m guessing he had no clue as to what this legal bill would be !
What do you expect from a guy who sings about a "pocket full of trojans..."
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