By Stone Martindale Jan 20, 2007, 17:20 GMT
The vida loca of spokesmodel Anna Nicole Smith just got a little more interesting. Smith is being sued by a Bahamian law firm that represented her in the weeks after her son's death in September. It seems Smith is adverse to paying any bills.
Anna Nicole Smith at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, January 6, 2007. The Bahamas on Tuesday set March 27 as the date for the long-awaited inquest into the sudden death of Daniel Smith, the 20-year-old son of the former Playboy Playmate. REUTERS/Hans Deryk
The lawyers have asked a court to freeze Smith's local bank accounts until she pays them their outstanding legal bills. The firm, which cited a falling out with the former Playboy playmate and reality-TV star when it dropped her as a client in October, wants a restraining order on assets totaling $125,000 to cover the unpaid bills. A copy of the lawsuit was obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
According to CBS News, Smith's attorney Wayne Munroe counters that her old legal team hasn't been paid because they have failed to proffer an itemized bill. "They're correct that they haven't been paid, but it's also correct that they haven't produced an itemized bill," said Friday.
CBS also reports that Anna intends to file a "breach of duty" claim against her old lawyers, who dropped her as a client after having a falling-out with her. Her new lawyer argues that any damages would likely exceed the amount of her legal bill.
In an affidavit filed with the lawsuit on Dec. 6, attorney Tracy Ferguson said Smith "has a total aversion to paying her bills and that she will seek to avoid paying the fees by any means that occur to her, including by sending her money within this jurisdiction abroad."
Ferguson said Smith earned $1.1 million for photo spread with her boyfriend Howard Stern. People magazine bought pictures of the Sept. 28th love "exchange" in Nassau.
Pathologist Cyril Wecht, who performed a private autopsy on her son Daniel, told reporters in November that he had not been paid. Wecht said Friday that he received payment a week after going to the media, reported CBS News.
Smith has also been wrangling with a former boyfriend over the ownership of her home in Nassau. G. Ben Thompson, a South Carolina developer, said he only loaned her money for the $900,000 home but she has not kept to the agreement an agreement to pay the mortgage.
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