Another day, another lawsuit enters a new chapter as Nelly moves to recover more than seventy eight thousand dollars in legal fees from attorney Precious Felder Gates. The request arrives after a federal judge determined that the copyright case brought by St Lunatics member Ali should not have moved beyond its earliest phase.
Ali first filed the claim in 2023 accusing Nelly of refusing to credit him and failing to share royalties for the blockbuster debut album Country Grammar. He said the star misled early collaborators and convinced them they would receive compensation that never arrived. Nelly rejected the accusations entirely and noted that the claims arrived decades after the fact and far outside the three year window set by the Copyright Act. Ali later dismissed the case in April.
The court took a closer look at how the case unfolded. Judge Robert W Lehrburger wrote that by November it should have been absolutely clear that the claim was barred yet Gates continued to advance the filing. He said this decision forced Nelly to spend money on a defense against a claim with no solid legal path.
Nellys legal team responded by submitting a fee petition valued at seventy eight thousand seven dollars for one hundred forty two hours of work by three attorneys with copyright experience. Lawyer Kenneth Freundlich noted that the billing rates were consistent with New York standards and that the number of hours reflected the effort required once Gates declined to pull back the complaint. He wrote that the burden of those expenses should not fall on Nelly after the court found the filing defective.
Gates will have an opportunity to ask the court to reduce the amount. She told Billboard that she still believes sanctions are unwarranted and said that she acted on the sincere belief that her clients claim deserved consideration.