Justin Baldoni Challenges Blake Lively’s $8 Million Legal Fee Claim

In a July 13 court filing, attorney Bryan Freedman, representing Baldoni and Wayferer Studios, urged the judge to reject or drastically slash the request submitted by the "Gossip Girl" actress. Lively’s claim, which totals $8,035,040.85, covers over 7,000 hours of billable work. Freedman argues this volume of labor is 20 times higher than what courts typically deem reasonable for comparable defamation cases.

Central to the dispute is the staffing strategy utilized by Lively’s counsel. Freedman contends that the bill includes charges for excessive internal conferencing and redundant research by a team of 82 timekeepers. The filing highlights that biographical credentials were provided for only 11 of those individuals, leaving the majority of the rates unjustified. Furthermore, Baldoni’s team pointed to a recent libel case against The New York Times, where legal costs were capped at $181,000, to illustrate the perceived overreach in Lively’s current demand. The motion also alleges that the requested amount improperly includes fees related to Lively’s own peripheral legal challenges that the court had previously denied.