Legal Wins, Losses for Lohans

Lindsay Lohan's legal minions have finally caught a break. Just not in the case they were hoping for.

The actress' lawyer succeeded in having the judge removed from the negilgence lawsuit over a 2005 car crash.

Alfred W. Gerisch filed the motion on behalf of his trouble-prone client, claiming Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Soussan G. Brugera, who was randomly assigned to hear the case, was incapable of affording Lohan a fair trial. As it was the first request for removal of a judge in the proceedings, Gerisch did not have to state why he believed the judge was prejudiced against Lohan. (The request was most likely a maneuver to delay the actual legal proceedings, not due to any real bias on Brugera's part.)

Effective immediately, Judge Michael L. Stern is presiding, and his first order of business will be to hear a motion for dismissal from Lohan's team.

Raymundo Ortega filed the negligence suit on June 14. He is seeking more than $200,000 in damages from the headline-grabbing crash, which took place Oct. 4, 2005 on Los Angeles' trendy Robertson Boulevard.

At the time, the Mean Girls star claimed she was attempting to evade some overly aggressive paparazzi and accidentally slammed into Ortega's van, which in turn crashed into another vehicle. Shortly after the incident took place, the California Highway Patrol issued a report stating that Ortega, not Lohan, was at fault for the smashup because he was making an illegal U-turn.

The report, issued the day after the accident, indicated that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department  ruled out alcohol as a factor in the crash.

However, sometime between fall 2005 and summer 2007, Ortega decided to challenge the official record of the incident and claimed that Lohan, then 19, was drunk at the time of the crash.

His lawsuit, filed while Lohan was undergoing treatment at Promises, alleges that the star "had consumed alcohol and become intoxicated" while dining at the Ivy and then sped away from the posh eatery "while looking over her shoulder instead of watching the road."

In his motion to dismiss the case, Lohan's lawyer claimed that the lawsuit did not state sufficient facts and should therefore be thrown out. Gerisch also filed a second motion to strike portions of Ortega's complaint, including the claim that Lohan was intoxicated, saying the allegation is not only untrue but unsupported by official documents.

A hearing on both motions in front of the new judge is scheduled to take place Sept. 20.

(A second, small-claims action against Lohan brought by the driver of the car struck by Ortega's van was tossed out earlier this month after the plaintiff refused to appear in court.)

While Lindsay's team was working on the West Coast, her parents faced off in a Long Island courtroom.

Dina and Michael Lohan turned up in Nassau Family Court for the latest chapter in their long drawn-out divorce and child custody battle.

During the hearing, Supreme Court Justice Robert A. Ross lashed out at Michael for failing to make any child-support payments for 13-year-old Ali and 10-year-old Dakota since his release from prison in March.

"The obligation to pay child support is absolute...It is not to be taken willy-nilly," the judge said in court. "Enough is enough."

The Lohan patriarch argued that he has been living and working in the rehabilitation center Teen Challenge since his prison break but claims he has not been receiving a salary for his work and therefore could not pay child support.

Ross ordered him to come up with $500 a week and to show proof that he was actively seeking employment at the estranged couple's next divorce hearing Aug. 10.

Outside the courtroom, when asked if he would look for a job as ordered by the judge, Lohan responded, "I work for Teen Challenge. I work for God.

"I am not on Lindsay's payroll and everyone that cared about Lindsay was extricated, fired or quit," he said by way of explaining his decided lack of interest in money-making ventures. "I was extricated myself, because I care.

"This is not a money issue with me, this is a child issue with me. It's about putting my family back together and helping Lindsay and anyone else that I can through the message that I'm trying to share with anyone else."

Dina Lohan, who remained relatively quiet inside the courtroom, spoke briefly to reporters outside, giving a quick update on the status of her famous daughter.

"Lindsay is fine," she said. "She is in a safe place and getting help."

The Lohans are due back in court on Monday to discuss custody and visitation rights.