Blake Lively Seeks $8 Million in Legal Fees From Justin Baldoni

Blake Lively is seeking more than $8 million in legal fees tied to her defense against a lawsuit filed by Justin Baldoni.

Attorneys for the former Gossip Girl star say the costs were incurred over just 10 months while fighting Baldoni’s $400 million defamation claim.

In court documents, Lively’s team detailed a series of high-priced expenses, including more than $155 for a six-minute phone call and $1,400 for a lawyer’s one-night stay at a five-star hotel.

Her lawyers argued that Baldoni’s side employed what they described as “scorched earth litigation tactics,” forcing them to take on an unusually heavy legal workload.

The request marks another major development in Lively’s ongoing legal battle with Baldoni, who both directed and co-starred with her in the film It Ends With Us.

Lively sued Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment on the set of the movie as well as defamation.

Baldoni responded the following month with a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and The New York Times, which was the first outlet to report her allegations.

All parties involved in the lawsuits have denied the allegations made against them.

In October 2025, a judge dismissed Baldoni’s case and in May this year, after a judge dismissed most of Lively’s claims, she agreed to settle the case.

Lively was not paid any money in the settlement but Judge Lewis Liman, who presided over the case at a New York court, did allow her to seek legal fees solely related to Baldoni’s failed case against her.

In court filings, Lively’s lawyers stated that the amount they were seeking was $7,495,526 in legal fees and $539,514 in expenses.

The fees break down between two law firms: $4,544,094 for Wilkie, Farr & Gallagher and $2,951,432 for Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

However, the final bill will be even higher because of costs related to the most recent hearing on June 1.

According to court filings, that will add another $300,000 to the total.

In legal papers Wilkie describes itself as a ‘premier international law firm’ with 1,300 lawyers in 16 offices around the country.

Lively’s lead lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, states that he charges $2,795 an hour but gave Lively a ‘discounted’ rate of $2,187.

In total, he billed 224 hours or $457,000 and he was one of a number of attorneys engaged in the case.

Such fees are ‘reasonable’, Gottlieb said, adding that Lively had paid her bills ‘in full’.

In another filing, Lively’s lawyers claimed that Baldoni’s legal team employed ‘scorched-earth litigation tactics designed to drain Lively’s resources’.

As a result she had to seek ‘frequent relief from the court to reign (sic) in their abusive behavior’, claimed the filings signed by lawyer Esra Hudson on behalf of both law firms. 

But among the documents filed by Lively is a breakdown of the fees and expenses charged by the two law firms she employed – including a $155.10 charge for a six minute phone call by Kristin Bender, one of the lawyers on Lively’s team.

For a 48 minute ‘strategy call’ with two other lawyers, attorney Matthew Bruno charged Lively $806.40, the documents show. 

Some of the largest individual fees are for things like researching federal cases: one such instance took 8.5 hours and cost Lively $10,115.00, which she wants back from Baldoni.

For spending just 24 minutes sending emails, Gottlieb billed her $799.20. And for an eight hour ‘summit’ talking about trial strategy, Gottlieb billed $15,984, the papers show.

Meanwhile, an entry from November 30 last year offered some insight into Lively’s strategy had the case gone to trial.

It was a $27,875 bill for: ‘Meet with counsel and expert, research and identify social media posts that include negative mentions of Baldoni’s lawsuit, mention of website, comparison of Lively to Amber Heard’.

There are also pages and pages of expenses such as a March 31, 2025 bill for Stephanie Roeser, a lawyer at Mannatt, Phelps & Phillips, for $4,617 to travel from New York to Los Angeles.

While the type of ticket is not revealed, that price would likely make it a first class flight.

For a February 1, 2025 meeting in New York, Esra Hudson, another of Lively’s lawyers stayed at the Five Star Beekman Hotel in downtown Manhattan at a cost of $1,473.56.

Ultimately, the legal controversy surrounding the allegations from both sides helped to turn It Ends With Us into a hit – raking in $351 million at the worldwide box office.

In the movie Lively played florist Lily Bloom who gets into a relationship with Baldoni, who plays abusive neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid.

But in the summer of 2024, when the movie came out, it was overshadowed by rumors of a feud on set between Baldoni and Lively.

Among Lively’s claims was that Baldoni ‘fat-shamed’ her by asking her personal trainer about her weight. He denied the allegation and claimed it was because he was worried about hurting his back during a scene where he lifted her up.

Lively also alleged that Baldoni inserted unscripted kisses into a scene where they were dancing together, and that his producer Jamey Heath walked into her trailer when she was breastfeeding her newborn baby.

Baldoni strongly denied her claims.