Vanessa Hudgens owes $150,000 in legal fees to her attorney
Attorney Brian Schall alleges "High School Musical" star Vanessa Hudgens owes him $150,000 in legal fees from a contract she signed with his firm in 2005, but she claims the agreement is void because she was 16 at the time.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Tricia Ann Bigelow said it is a "factual issue" whether the rising star disaffirmed her obligations to the contract within a reasonable time period.
Hudgens maintains she was 16 when she signed the agreement with lawyer Brian L. Schall, and that she is not bound to its terms because she was a minor at the time.
But Bigelow said that Hudgens' decision to wait until Oct. 9 -- when she was 18 years, nine months old -- to reject the contract is an issue for either a motion for summary judgment or a jury decision. Hudgens turns 19 on Dec. 14.
Schall filed his lawsuit Sept. 17 against the singer/actress. Schall and Hudgens entered a contract in October 2005, and he advanced costs and expenses on her behalf in connection with her songwriting and recording career, the suit states.
Schall says he also drafted contracts for Hudgens that have helped her earn more than $5 million. Hudgens paid some of the money -- the court papers do not say how much -- but still owes $150,000, according to his suit.
Court papers filed Oct. 29 by Hudgens' lawyer, Evan N. Spiegel, say that the state's Family Code "provides that the contract of a minor is voidable and may be disaffirmed before (age 18) or within a reasonable time afterward."
But Michel states in his court papers that although Hudgens was 16 when she put her name on the dotted line, she consistently paid her bills for a while after she turned 18.
"Now that Ms. Hudgens has decided she does not want to pay ... she has attempted to concoct a press-friendly story, complete with claims that she was too young and innocent to be bound by a legal contract ... and was preyed upon by the very lawyer who helped her make enough money to pay her current lawyers," Michel states.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled Jan. 15.
