Larry Birkhead's attorney is super reasonable

By Lena ofMamaPop

 

Larry Birkhead‘s former attorney, Debra Opri, who until two weeks ago represented Larry in his paternity battle with Howard K. Stern over Dannielynn, 6 months, submitted her final bill to Larry on Saturday. Totaling $620,492.84, the 112-page bill included some crazy charges at an hourly rate of $475 including:

• $4,500 for Opri’s personal publicist.

• $14,250 for 30 hours of "preparation for and attendance in Bahamasre services and var. meetings re same." for attending Anna’s funeral,which ironically Larry requested she not attend.

• $600 for trays of lobster to be delivered to the private residence where Opri and Larry stayed during the Florida hearing

• $161.65 for an Outback Steakhouse dinner, including a $50 tip, at which Larry was not even present.

• $4,265 for Cingular roaming service while she was in the Bahamas. (Can you hear me now?)

• $3,583 for two more dinners at which Larry was not present.

• And my favorite – $25.75. The item — "laundry service Zawacki." Who is Zawacki? Why, he’s Opri’s husband. Classy!

I’m surprised she didn’t charge Larry for the oxygen he breathed in her office.

But, before you hastily jump to the conclusion that Opri isunreasonable, you should know that she has graciously offered Larrythe bargain price of $511,365.09! As long as he pays the "fair andreasonable" bill "without further discussion" and stops "stiffing" her.

So, do you think Larry should pay up?

Source: TMZ

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MamaPop is a collective of women writers devoted to bringing the best of pop culture to the masses daily. Visit them at www.mamapop.com.

Comments

I’m an attorney too but this is OBSCENE. I have no words. He should send her a bill for all the free publicity she’s getting as a result of being involved in this case. I hope the Florida (?) Bar Assoc. Ethics Committee gets involved. Exactly the type of BS that makes people hate lawyers.

- millie on April 2nd, 2007

I’m sorry but what does this question have to do with what this site is all about?

- dark angel on April 2nd, 2007

Should Larry pay up? NOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Has this woman no shame?! Yes, lawyers are expensive, and there’s the travel to & from the Bahamas – but, dining on lobster & her husbands dry-cleaning… no, I hope Larry gets the amount down (more)

Gosh DL is a cutie.

- Heavenly_hibiscus on April 2nd, 2007

aww geez that’s ridiculous… does he even have that kind of money? well, i suppose he should have known what he was getting into with hiring her beforehand…. although she does seem a bit psychotic. i hope he gets the baby. she is totally his!

- Julie on April 2nd, 2007

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- evden eve nakliyat on April 2nd, 2007

Wow, unbelievable.

- alexasdf on April 2nd, 2007

My Gosh, that is ridiculous! Her husband’s laundry service, the dinners LARRY WASN’T AT! That’s crazy but most of all, Charging Him for the funeral which he didn’t want her at!?!?! 14,250 to go to a funeral she wasn’t really invited too. I mean, COME ON! She must be desperate for money! I do hope that Bar Assoc. Ethics Committee does step in because that lady is out her mind!

- Lisa Cosgrave on April 2nd, 2007

I used to work for a law firm, and I can see why Opri would charge over half a millino dollars for her services. Many lawyers have inflated billing fees, especialy if they are in a highly public case like this one.

Birkhead must have been Opri’s only client all those months, and likely “on-call” so everything they do, including laundry, dining out, travel expenses, etc., should be paid by the client. I guess Opri thought Birkhead was made of money, so lobster dinners and charging almost $15,000 for 30 hours of work might have seemed normal for her.

Birkhead should have gotten a clearly outlined billing contract before accepting Opri as his lawyer. Unfortunately it looks like he’ll be on the hook even if the bills are not related to the case.

I’d be interested in what millie the lawyer would charge if she was Birkhead’s lawyer.

- D. on April 2nd, 2007

maybe SHE was the real reason I didn’t like LB!! I couldn’t stand her press opportunities. I cannot decide who DL looks like…besides Anna Nicole and Daniel. In some pics she looks like LB and in some she looks like HKS. I hope we will know soon.

- tink1217 on April 2nd, 2007

D: I don’t know what I would charge since I have no idea how much time she spent working on this case. I doubt she dropped her other clients for him. Billing for dinners and travel is normal but it has to be reasonable too, no matter how high profile you are. Btw, what did he get, so far, for his money? It’s ridiculous to see that it took $500,000 to get a DNA test done. The truth is that he should have been wiser BEFORE retaining her and now he’ll have to show that the bill is padded (double or even triple billing is not uncommon), which places the burden on him. She, of course, knew very well that he’s poor and not very sophisticated (not her typical client) and she still agreed to represent him and used him for publicity–her official site (debraopri.com) has his picture displayed on the homepage. She will continue to get other lucrative TV gigs because of the notoriety this case brought her and I doubt she really counted on him paying her. I wonder if she mentioned to Larry what it cost to litigate a high-profile custody case billed at $475 per hour. Lawyers who appear on TV make me sick and I haven’t followed the ANS saga but one look at Larry is enough to see that he’s not too smart and not made of money either. Opri is not the victim here.

- millie on April 2nd, 2007

THE COMMENT POSTED BY D IS CRAZY! JUST BECAUSE LARRY WAS HER ONLY CLIENT AT THE TIME SHE CAN CHARGE HIM FOR WHATEVER SHE WANTS? THAT IS WHY PEOPLE THINK YOU GUYS ARE ARE A BUNCH OF CRIMINALS! SHE CAN EAT AT WENDY’S SHE DOES NOT HAVE TO EAT LOBSTER AND STEAK! LARRY IS NOT RICH, HE IS NOT GOING TO HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY HER FOR ALL THE THINGS SHE CHARGED HIM FOR!

- BELA on April 2nd, 2007

What a waste of time of all persons involved and what a waste of money.

It all started with Anna manipulating all involved, including herself.

It is obvious that she fled to the Bahamas,because she was not willing to deal with Larry Birkhead, who wanted her off drugs.

Larry should go after Howard K. Stern when everything is done, for falsely taking his child.

Very sad that so much money had to be spent, when a judge with good judgment, should of immediately ordered a DNA test. The child belongs to her father, and those in power should of been more concerned with her right, and not the right of Howard K. Stern. KEEP IT SIMPLE. Release the result of the DNA.

Opri charging these fees, is highway robbery. There is a lesson in this for you Larry. Did you get everything in writing before? Did you know, how much she was charging by the hour? She is one greedy lawyer, and she accomplished nothing.

After the DNA Larry will take his child, and Larry please go after Howard for wrongfully declaring himself the father, for emotional and financial hardship.

Howard is a dishonest person, and so is his lawyer, Lilly. She stated that Howard did everything to move this case forward. And that is not true. He did everything to stop the truth coming out. He also was an enabler to Anna.

- Gab on April 2nd, 2007

Does anybody know what Larry does? If he has to pay up where will he find this money?

- Callen on April 2nd, 2007

A lot of that is ridiculous but she also is an L.A. attorney so she’s bound to get expensive, which I’m sure he knew going in. Its no wonder he does so many tv interviews; he needs the money (I’m pretty sure he gets paid to do those). A photographer could get paid really well but I doubt he gets paid that well.

- Heather on April 2nd, 2007

No, he shouldn’t have to pay – she didn’t finish the job. When did that become acceptable?

Let alone those prices are inflated and unreasonable.

I hope she gets what she deserves! and I’m not talking monetarily.

- Kristen on April 2nd, 2007

The billing does seem unethical, particularly when Opri incurred high expenses doing things that client did not want her to do, ie the funeral.
Her husband’s laundry should not be paid for. And who leaves a $50 tip on a bill that is a little over $100?!
I am all for people getting paid their due, but this bill is totally excessive and blaming the victim of a billing scam that is common practice isn’t helpful.

- sweetdiva on April 2nd, 2007

The saddest part of this case, is the fact that we still don’t know who DL’s real father is. If Larry has to pay this woman this enormous amount of money and he ends up being DL’s father, how is he going to be able to afford caring for a baby?? Debra Opri has no right to charge him this much, especially since I am positive that Larry had no idea before-hand that she would be this expensive. I sincerely hope they get this sorted out, so that Larry will be able to provide for his daughter in the future.

- Alexandra on April 2nd, 2007

W.T.F.? So this must be why they split! This is highway robbery! Her HUSBAND’S laundry service? Her cell phone bill? Trays of lobster? Dinners he DIDN’T EVEN ATTEND? Millie had it right: “obscene” is definitely the right word for it. Not to mention ridiculous, exploitative, manipulative….there’s so many adjectives for it. Debra Opri is an outright leech! Larry’s just trying to obtain the baby that is rightfully his, and move on with his life; but seems like he’s going to spend those first months with his daughter in severe debt! I wish him the best.

- NausicaaofWind on April 2nd, 2007

Yeah I don’t like Deborah Opri, BUT Larry hired her. She is not a no name lawyer. She has represented many celeb..one being Micheal Jackson. SO he knew what he was getting in to.

- katie on April 2nd, 2007

Also Larry makes good money. At the hearing for the rights to the body of Anna the judge asked him how much he made last year and he said over 1 million dollars. So he is not going to be poor people. People are still buying rights to the photos of Anna he took while she was alive so he will have money.

- katie on April 2nd, 2007

What if he can’t afford that? How would he pay?

- MMM on April 2nd, 2007

Uh, I wonder where he’ll get the money if the kid is his? Come on, she is the sole beneficiary of ANS’s estate. And if the court cases say that ANS should get Marshall’s fortune? Ka-Ching!

I’m not saying that LB is only in it for the money, but he should be more than able to pay the bill if DL is his. Probably why she’s charging him so much, she knows the kid is his and he’ll be able to afford it.

Although charging that much I think will drop her client list dramatically. Who wants to go in knowing they have to pay for $1000 dinners?

- Kim on April 2nd, 2007

CALLEN:

Larry is a freelance photographer.

- Erin on April 2nd, 2007

She must know that Dannielynn is Larry’s child,and that Dannielynn will inherit that money one day from Anna’s estate. How sad. Everyone wants to get rich off a poor defenseless baby.

- Yonni on April 2nd, 2007

That is crazy. I really hope the state, steps in, and take out the crazy charges that she’s trying to charge him for. No one told her to go and buy the lobster. Nor did anyone tell her to talk her butt off on a four thousand dollar cellphone charge. She is crazy.

- LaTonya on April 2nd, 2007

How are you gonna be a high profile attorney with a cellphone plan that doesn’t have free roaming? If you have to be all over the US or the world get a plan that fits your traveling.

And I bet that the trip to the Bahamas was just like a vacation after her “job” was finished for the day. I bet her husband was with her there too.

Lawyers like her really do give the good ones a bad name.

- *** Beth *** on April 2nd, 2007

Who is Larry Birkhead’s new attorney ? And what city and state are they in? Thank You

- unknown on September 5th, 2007