Updated

Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 26

Judge Awards Blake Lively $407,452 From Justin Baldoni, Slashing $8 Million Fee Request

Updated

Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 26

Judge Awards Blake Lively $407,452 From Justin Baldoni, Slashing $8 Million Fee Request

Q: Why did the federal judge refuse to let Blake Lively's media-relations expenses be covered in her bitter legal feud?

The judge refused to cover Blake Lively’s media-relations expenses because he found they were not reasonably necessary to defend against Justin Baldoni’s failed defamation claim. Judge Lewis Liman said the California fee-shifting law Lively relied on allowed recovery only for “reasonable” attorneys’ fees and costs directly tied to defending that specific defamation suit. In his view, media strategy and press work fell outside that narrow category. As the ruling put it, “Media relations were not integral to defending the defamation claim brought against Lively,” so “time spent on media relations and press coverage is not compensable.” That fit the broader logic of his decision. Liman did not reject Lively’s lawyers’ hourly rates as excessive, but he did sharply limit the scope of what could be reimbursed. He ruled that she could not shift the cost of broader litigation efforts, public-relations work, or other expenses not closely connected to the legal defense itself. The same reasoning led him to trim other requested costs, including some travel expenses, and to award about $407,000 instead of the roughly $8 million Lively requested. In short, the court treated media-relations spending as a reputational or strategic expense, not a legal one covered by the statute.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 26

$407,451.75 in fees and costs was awarded to Blake Lively by U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman for defending against Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios' dismissed defamation countersuit.
Liman granted $363,245.40 in attorneys' fees and $44,206.35 in costs, far below Lively's request for more than $8 million plus $539,514.01 in expenses.
Baldoni's lawyers had urged the court to deny or sharply cut the request, arguing Lively's defense team was overstaffed and billed excessive research, conferencing and hearing attendance.
The fee fight stems from a broader dispute that began in December 2024, when Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment; most of her claims were later dismissed, while retaliation and breach-of-contract claims survived before the sides moved toward settlement.