Kevin Federline has a chink in his deposition chain.
Britney Spears' close pal Sam Lutfi missed his appointment Friday to be deposed in the ex-couple's ongoing custody battle, and Federline's camp is planning to file a motion compelling him to appear, sources confirmed to E! News.
Lutfi, who was served with a subpoena Nov. 7, is one of a string of Spears insiders, including former manager Larry Rudolph and second banana Alli Sims, who have been called upon to testify about Spears' habits and behavior as Federline shores up his case for custody.
A spokesman for attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said that the lawyer will seek a court order to ensure that Lutfi appears for questioning in January.
Kaplan's rep confirmed that, as Friday's no-show demonstrates, getting the Los Angeles-based film producer to comply with their side's wishes has been no picnic.
Before Lutfi was finally served earlier this month, Kaplan's people had been trying to pin him down since August, with the first attempt coming near Lutfi's L.A. home.
According to Aaron Cohen, the former Israeli soldier trying to deliver the subpoena, Spears' Mercedes-driving confidante got spooked and rammed into Cohen's Range Rover. Needless to say, Lutfi wasn't successfully served at that time.
On Nov. 7, however, Kaplan's process server approached Lutfi, asked him whether he was, in fact, Sam Lufti, and dropped the papers at his feet.
Kaplan has said that Lutfi, who was along for the ride when Spears turned herself in at the Van Nuys police station last month to be booked on her misdemeanor driving infractions, could be a very useful witness, as he's spent a good deal of time with the 25-year-old Blackout singer while sons Sean Preston and Jayden James have been around.
Lutfi was also the one who stepped up on Spears' behalf this week after In Touch Weekly started buzzing with news that the beleaguered songstress was pregnant with music producer J.R. Rotem's baby.
"It's B.S.," Lutfi texted to E! News anchor Ryan Seacrest early Wednesday morning. "Don't know who made it up. J.R. doesn't even know what's up. It's fake. Completely fake. We just wrapped her video. Going home to sleep."
(In Touch is standing by its story and has released photos purporting to be Rotem's text messages confirming the pregnancy.)
Spears lost custody of her kids on Oct. 1—and then the ability to drive them around Nov. 16—but is entitled to thrice-weekly supervised visits, including one overnight.
While Spears and Federline's custody case is threatening to outlast the amount of time they spent as husband and wife, Kaplan maintains that his client is only waging this battle on behalf of his kids and not his bank account.
"Every two months, rumors have been raised in the media that Mr. Federline's lawyers are about to go into court to get more money for child support," Kaplan said Friday in a statement to E! News. "Persistent questions are again being raised now in the press about the timing of when that will happen.
"As I've said, I know where to find the courthouse and what to do when I get there. If Mr. Federline had wanted to increase child support, it would be very easy to achieve and would have been requested long before now. There has not been and is not now a request before the court for a modification of child support.
"Mr. Federline's purpose in bringing this action continues to be one that is based upon the best interest of the children as his highest priority."