Birkhead, Lawyer Part in Anna Nicole Paternity Suit

If timing really is everything, then everything doesn't look so good for Larry Birkhead.

The lead challenger for paternity of Anna Nicole Smith's six-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, has parted ways with longtime attorney Debra Opri in what was initially billed as an amicable split but has now deteriorated into a battle of he-said, she-said.

"Larry Birkhead and I have terminated our attorney-client relationship effective immediately," Opri said in a statement released early Friday. "I wish Larry the very best of luck in his continuing efforts to prove that he is Dannielynn's biological father.

"My prayers will be with Larry and Dannielynn always."

However, shortly after the statement was released, Opri and Birkhead changed their mutually respectful story, with each party placing blame for the split on the other.

Opri was first out of the gate with her amended story, claiming that it was her client's increasing contact with his paternity rival, Howard K. Stern, that had her running for the hills.

"I just had enough," she told Extra. "I can't represent a client who has a middle man by the name of Howard K. Stern. I feel very comfortable in my decision, and I wish Larry the best. But I am worried about him.

"I couldn't continue with the way things were going...I don't want anyone to think that I'm jumping ship. He's close enough...I didn't abandon Larry."

On that point, Birkhead agrees. He claims it was he who gave Opri the boot.

"I have chosen to go in a different direction," he told Access Hollywood. "I have complete confidence in my attorney, Emerick Knowles, who's handling the Bahamas portion of my case."

Birkhead also said that he did not understand why Opri felt the need to comment on their professional relationship at all, let alone today, when he was back to court in Nassau.

"This is totally unrelated to my California paternity action and there was no reason for a statement to be released just hours before my appearance in a Bahamas court," he said.

As far as which version of the twosome's story is selling best, a TMZ report concurred that Birkhead instigated the separation, claiming that the photographer pulled the professional plug in an email to Opri on Tuesday.

The news of a split comes as a surprise to followers of the saga, as Opri and Birkhead have appeared as a united front ever since the photographer hired the legal eagle last summer, before Smith's death, to prove he sired Dannielynn.

Opri has served as Birkhead's lead counsel in all legal battles, ranging from paternity suits in Los Angeles, custody suits in the Bahamas, DNA requests in Florida, and, of course, the next-of-kin case in Broward County, in which he testified about where Smith should be buried.

As recently as Tuesday morning, the twosome seemed tight as ever, returning to Los Angeles Superior Court to attempt to once and for all settle the matter of which man, be it Birkhead, Stern, or even the litigious late entry, Prince Frederic Von Anhalt, can lay claim to being Dannielynn's daddy.  (For a guide to all the major players, check out our Anna Nicole cheat sheet.)

Opri requested on Birkhead's behalf that Judge Robert Schnider order Stern back to the state of California to submit to a DNA test and afterward said it was time for Stern to "put up or shut up."

She also was so bold as to theorize that Birkhead would be granted custody of Dannielynn within the next month.

Which still may happen, just not with her help.

According to Court TV's Jean Casarez, Smith's estranged and litigation-loving mother, Virgie Arthur, is due to appear in Bahamian court later today to demand custody of Dannielynn, while the men battle out who the girl's father, and ultimate guardian, is. Arthur has long claimed that Stern, who is currently caring for Dannielynn in the Bahamas, is providing a less stable home than the one she has to offer. Arthur has also publicly supported Birkhead's bid for paternity.

However, Casarez told TMZ that the Supreme Court of the Bahamas has already taken the precaution of directing their Department of Social Services to carry out background checks on all three major players—Arthur, Stern and Birkhead—before ruling on any pending case.

The results of the checks are expected to be revealed in court later today.