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Opri's Dough Frozen as Judge Studies Birkhead's Bill

Thu., Jul. 12, 2007 6:54 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

Debra Opri's dough isn't going anywhere for a few days.

A Los Angeles judge opted to grant Larry Birkhead's request to freeze his former attorney's client-trust account, saying that he will rule by Tuesday whether to order the dueling parties to enter arbitration to settle what Opri says is Birkhead's ultra-outstanding legal bill.

Opri's camp did not object to L.A. Superior Court Judge Charles C. Lee's decision. "We look forward to to the court's forthcoming final rulings," attorney David Owen said Thursday in a statement.

Opri, who toiled for Birkhead for six months in the fight to prove he was the father of Anna Nicole Smith's infant daughter Dannielynn, petitioned for court-ordered arbitration in May, stating that Smith's baby daddy owes her more than $600,000.

Birkhead and Opri ended up going their separate ways before DNA proved that he, and not Howard K. Stern, was Dannielynn's dad. He then sued his ex-ally on June 1 for fraud and legal malpractice, claiming that she is wrongfully holding onto upwards of $500,000 that he was paid as part of a million-dollar media deal.

Opri has admitted that, yes, she has the contested cash in Birkhead's client-trust account and that the Kentucky-born and L.A.-based photographer knew that he wouldn't be seeing any more of that money until he had settled his tab with her.

The recently minted father of one filed June 19 for a preliminary injunction that would prevent Opri from accessing any of the money that he says belongs to him, as well as any assets she may have obtained using those funds.

Birkhead says that Opri turned $200,000 over to him from the TV deal, which was brokered shortly after Smith's death in February, but that he's still waiting on $505,250 more.

In happier (yet not really happy) times, Opri was by Birkhead's side in the Bahamas as they slogged through the murky waters of the paternity suit Birkhead filed against Smith in October. After an L.A. court had ruled in Birkhead's favor and ordered a DNA test, Smith died suddenly on Feb. 8 of an accidental prescription drug overdose. The test was eventually performed in April.

Last month, Birkhead and Stern were named, respectively, guardian of Smith's estate and executor of her will.

In other posthumous Smith news, the makers of TrimSpa have proposed a class-action settlement in a lawsuit filed against them and their most famous endorser just days before Smith died.

Janet Luna, Myra Luna and Yvonne Rodarte sued Smith and TrimSpa Inc. in February, accusing the company and its spokeswoman of using deceptive business practices to peddle the weight-loss supplement and of violating California's unfair competition law.

TrimSpa's and the plaintiffs' attorneys announced last week that consumers who purchased TrimSpa X32 during the period covered by the lawsuit (Apr. 1, 2003 to Oct. 31, 2006) and can submit a valid claim form are eligible for a cash payment, a free bottle of multivitamins and a transferable discount coupon for each bottle of TrimSpa X32 purchased during that time.

Breaking it down, that's a $1 check for each bottle purchased, a complimentary bottle of Winfuel multivitamin or MultiSpa Men's or MultiSpa Women's multivitamin for each bottle of TrimSpa purchased, and a $5 coupon redeemable for a discount on any 90-count bottle of the defendant's products.

TrimSpa has also agreed to correct any misleading labeling or advertising that may imply that the herbal supplement makes it a cinch to loose weight, although the diet pill's parent company, Nutramerica Corp., has not admitted any wrongdoing.