Lindsay Lohan may be lounging in Mexico, but there's no rest for her weary attorneys, who were back in Los Angeles Superior Court Monday to fight one of the star's ongoing legal battles.
According to court papers filed yesterday, Lohan's attorneys are seeking a dismissal of a portion of a lawsuit filed against the actress by her former bodyguard, David Kim.
In the original complaint, filed April 7, Kim claimed Lohan owes him more than $55,000 for services rendered during his roughly six-month employment, which ended in March 2007. In addition to breach of contract, Kim says he was defrauded by Lohan.
Though now it looks like he may be the one paying out.
Superior Court Judge Ernest Hiroshige said today he would consider Team Lohan's request to dismiss the suit, and, as if that weren't enough of a boon for the actress, was also pondering whether to fine Kim and his attorneys for failing to show up for this morning's hearing.
For their part, Lohan's lawyers lashed out at the bodyguard's fraud claim, saying there's no evidence the actress had designs on cheating Kim out of payment and that Kim only included the fraud allegation to ratchet up his potential payout.
"The...cause of action for fraud is nothing more than a sham which should be dismissed by the court," Lohan's lawyers state in her new court filing, and that it was added "solely in order to seek an award of punitive damages."
Not only do Lohan's layers want the fraud claim thrown out, they don't want Kim's attorneys to have the option to adjust their complaint and reintroduce it later down the line.
A hearing on the motion to dismiss the fraud claim has been set for Nov. 5, while a hearing to determine whether Kim & Co. will face sanctions or other fines for their failure to appear in court has been set for Oct. 28.
No doubt up for discussion at the hearing: how to purposely defraud someone you never knew.
Lohan maintains that not only has she never met Kim but that he was never in her employ—despite his quite detailed assertion that he was hired in October 2006 by Crossheart Productions to be added to her 24/7 security detail.
In his suit, Kim says he provided around-the-clock protection for the starlet, arranged for extra security as needed, reserved VIP tables at clubs and events and acted as personal chauffeur to the actress.
Meanwhile, Lohan is clearly looking to put the suit behind her, as court papers filed by both sides back in June indicated that out-of-court talks had already kicked off.
The dueling parties said they were "presently continuing to exchange settlement proposals…to attempt to resolve [the case]."