Britney Spears‘ and Kevin Federline’s attorneys were at it again last week. The lawyers appeared before Commissioner Scott Gordon in Los Angeles to argue over legal fees. Today, Spears was ordered to pay $375,000 of Federline’s attorney’s fees in the custody modification battle that has been heated for months. While Federline receives child support from Spears for their two young sons and presumably makes some sort of income for his intermittent acting gigs and public appearances, he is clearly not in the same financial position as Spears, who reportedly makes at least $700,000 per month. Federline apparently owes nearly $500,000 to his attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan. Stacy Phillips, Spears’ newest attorney, claims that Spears has already spent over $1 million on the custody case.

Phillips argued that Federline has plenty of money available to pay his own fees, pointing out a $2,000 tip Federline left on a $365 restaurant check recently and also argued that Kaplan’s fees were unreasonable. Kaplan countered by arguing that he was in court on the case eight times between September and January alone due solely to Spears’ behavior and bad judgment and in support of Federline’s attempts to protect the welfare of the children. Several additional court appearances were necessary after Spears’ two involuntary psychiatric commitments in January and February of this year.Commissioner Gordon agreed with Kaplan. In his order, Gordon found that Kaplan’s fees were reasonable and noted that the actions of Spears caused the majority of the litigation.

California, like most states, allows a judge to order one party to pay all or part of the other party’s attorneys’ fees in a divorce, support or custody action. This decision is usually based upon the inability of one spouse to afford the fees, coupled with the ability of the other spouse to pay. In a more mundane example than the Spears-Federline case, the court will sometimes order a working husband to pay the attorney’s fees of his stay-at-home ex-wife. In other situations, however, the court can order one side to pay fees as a sanction or punishment – usually if that party’s behavior caused otherwise unnecessary legal fees. For example, if a father continually refuses to abide by a parenting schedule, forcing the mother to file a motion to enforce the schedule, the court may choose to order the “mis-behaving” parent to pay the legal fees of the other. It appears that both factors (financial and behavioral) are at issue in the Spears-Federline case. The court, in every situation, requires that the fees be reasonable and necessary.

Phillips, a partner at the Los Angeles firm of Phillips, Lerner, Lauzon & Jamra, LLP, is Spears’ fourth attorney in the child custody case and has previously represented singer Bobby Brown, Erin Everly (ex-wife of singer Axl Rose), Charlie Shahnaian (ex-husband of Tori Spelling) and baseball player Darryl Strawberry. She is a Certified Family Law Specialist in California.*

*Legal Specialization (also called certification) is offered in relatively few states. Where it is offered, certification in family law is a designation given by the state bar association that indicates an attorney’s practice emphasis on the area of family law. The certification does not necessarily mean that a certified lawyer is better than a lawyer who has chosen not seek certification. Celebrities often choose to hire divorce attorneys who are not certified as family law specialists, often due to a particular attorney’s reputation or experience with the media and public relations.