Court reduces Lively's legal fee award in Baldoni case
A US judge has ordered Blake Lively to receive $363,245 in attorney fees and $44,206 in costs from her legal dispute with Justin Baldoni, far below the $8 million she requested. The judge ruled that while her lawyers' rates were reasonable, the number of hours billed was excessive and documentation incomplete. The settlement of the underlying case was reached in May, leaving only the fee dispute to be resolved.
The fee dispute stemmed from an 18-month legal fight that began when Lively accused Baldoni of harassment on the set of It Ends With Us in December 2024, followed by his counter-suit the next month. The underlying case settled in May, leaving only financial questions for the court. Judge Lewis Liman determined that while Lively's lawyers charged acceptable rates for a complex matter, their billed hours were inflated and they failed to provide actual invoices, relying instead on an expert's review of billing records. Baldoni and his wife have publicly described their ordeal as unjust, while Lively has remained silent publicly since the settlement, though she has appeared at major events.
This ruling could influence how courts scrutinize fee requests in high-profile celebrity disputes, potentially discouraging inflated billing practices in future litigation. The case may also shape public perception of legal costs in harassment claims, with some observers possibly viewing the reduced award as a check on excessive spending, while others may see it as diminishing the financial stakes of such battles. The outcome could affect how lawyers structure fee documentation in similar cases.