Who said getting back on track was cheap?
Stacy Phillips, one of the shorter-term members of Britney Spears' legal team, has let it be known that shoring up one's defenses can be downright bank-breaking.
According to a declaration filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, the "Sometimes I Run" songstress owes $338,414.87 to Phillips for $700-an-hour services rendered between March and June—and there are rumors of a lawsuit in the works, because Spears' camp is objecting to the hefty sum. (View court documents.)
But that's a discount, says the attorney, who states that the tab includes "time already deducted as a courtesy," time "written off" and $75,000 that she expects to get next month. (A court commissioner earmarked that sum for Phillips in April while poring over Spears' bills.)
Phillips was dismissed before Spears' custody settlement was reached last month with the help of Spears' recently reinstated family lawyer Laura Wasser, who broke ranks last fall but returned in time to help Spears obtain more visitation privileges with sons Sean Preston and Jayden James (although Kevin Federline still has sole physical and legal custody).
Wasser's most recent bill, encompassing two months of counsel, totals $60,075, per another declaration filed on behalf of the law firm of Wasser, Cooperman & Carter.
But because her firm has already applied Spears' $25,000 retainer fee toward her bill, she's requesting no more than half of the total sum at this time.
Why so high, you might ask?
Phillips says that Spears' conservatorship arrangement, which has gotten much of the credit for her 180-degree turn for the better over the last five months, made her case more complex.
Indeed. Attorneys for dad Jamie Spears indicated in court last week that they intend to contest his little girl's legal bills. A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 16 to discuss Phillips' fee.
Meanwhile, the firm of Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps is requesting $110,000 of the $220,600 it says it's owed for 402 hours of representing the conservatorship.