Opri Loses Birkhead Arbitration Bid

Debra Opri's losing streak continues.

Weeks after failing to convince a Los Angeles judge to make David Hasselhoff pay her for representing his wife in their custody spat, a second jurist has denied her motion in an attempt to collect from Larry Birkhead.

Superior Court Judge Charles C. Lee ruled against the high-priced, high-profile lawyer's request to have the billing dispute with Birkhead sent to arbitration, according to documents made public Thursday. At stake, a $600,000 legal tab for running point in Birkhead's paternity battle with Anna Nicole Smith.

In a written ruling issued Tuesday and made public Thursday, Lee ruled against her request, saying that Opri's contract with Birkhead did not call for binding arbitration.

"I'm very happy with the judge's decision and I believe he made the right call," Birkhead's attorney, Michael Trope, told E! Online.

Opri's attorney, Jonathan Cole, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Birkhead fired Opri in March a month before a Bahamian court found DNA tests proved the 34-year-old celebrity photographer fathered Dannielynn. That didn't stop Opri from sending the mammoth bill for services rendered—what the attorney insisted was for the "hundreds of hours of work" that required her to "travel to multiple states and outside of the country."

When Birkhead failed to hand over the cash, she filed a petition in May seeking to recoup the sum by having Lee send the dispute to an independent arbitrator as supposedly stipulated in their contract.

But Lee instead pointed to a detailed rejoinder presented by Birkhead that outlined how he first came into contact with Opri and described the nature of their business relationship.

According to court papers, Birkhead claimed that he brought Opri aboard only after she agreed to represent him for free "because the publicity from her representation of me would greatly benefit her legal career."

In a countersuit, Birkhead alleges that Opri defrauded him by diverting at least $865,000 from a TV deal into a client trust account. He says he has only collected about $200,000 of that amount.

Lee said that Opri not only failed to defend her assertion that she's entitled to keep the balance to cover her legal expenses, but also that she didn't address Birkhead's allegations of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and conversion. Aiding his decision, said the judge, was Birkhead's declaration which went into "great detail about the facts surrounding his introduction to Opri through a reporter with MSNBC."

The reporter in question was former MSNBC anchor Rita Cosby. Birkhead said earlier this week he's planning to sue Cosby for defamation for a salacious book she just published about his relationship with the late Playboy Playmate and her attorney and partner, Howard K. Stern, in which Cosby asserted that Birkhead and Stern were lovers.

Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death also claims that the Kentucky native cut a secret deal with Stern to name him executor of Smith's estate in exchange for custody of Dannielynn without regard for the welfare of the child. (Stern's lawyer has also said Cosby's allegations were "false and defamatory" and promised to hold her "legally accountable").

Meanwhile, Lee also reaffirmed a previous order that Opri not touch the disputed money in the trust account and place it in an interest-bearing account until the case is resolved.

With arbitration now out of the equation, the Opri-Birkhead battle looks to be headed for a courtroom showdown.

Asked about the possibility of reaching a settlement, Trope demurred. "We've already had a voluntary settlement meeting supervised by a retired judge. I think Larry was very reasonable at the meeting but nothing resulted from it," he said.

A case management conference is scheduled for Oct. 31.

This is the second defeat for the publicity-seeking attorney over legal bills in recent weeks.

On Aug. 22, Superior Court Judge Mark A. Juhas denied a petition by Opri seeking a court order forcing David Hasselhoff to pay $189,000 in legal fees Opri racked up for representing his ex-wife, Pamela Bach. Bach fired Opri after losing the custody case and Juhas ruled that Opri failed to get the proper authorization from Bach to go after the Hoff. That means Opril will have to sue Bach to recoup her costs.