Legal Fees a ‘Breathtaking’ $93M-Plus in Bratz Battle

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Legal Fees a ‘Breathtaking’ $93M-Plus in Bratz Battle

Posted Sep 10, 2008, 07:17 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Two toy companies battling for rights to the Bratz dolls-with-attitude have racked up legal fees of at least $93 million in the case.

MGA Entertainment has spent $63 million in fees since 2004 defending a lawsuit by Mattel Inc. that contended the doll’s designer conceived of the idea before leaping from Mattel to MGA, the Daily Journal reports (sub. req.). Plaintiff Mattel has spent $30 million in just the first half of the year, the story says.

Mattel was awarded $100 million in the case, far short of the more than $2 billion in damages it had sought.

The Daily Journal got MGA’s figures in a lawsuit it filed against its insurers seeking full payment of the Bratz fees, while the publication got the Mattel figure from a stock analyst.

Frederick "Rick" McKnight, partner-in-charge of Jones Day's Los Angeles office who focuses on complex litigation, told the publication that $93 million in legal fees for a case that is not a class action is "breathtaking."

"Complex cases are expensive, especially when the stakes are so large and important," McKnight said. Apart from class actions, "I am unaware of a single case that has cost so much."

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