Final Plea for Campbell Estate Legal Fees

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

In a final plea prior to a key hearing lawyers for the estate of Glen Campbell have disclosed that the attorney whose fees are in dispute was also a neighbor and personal friend of the late singer.
In a four-page filing Wednesday in Davidson Probate Court, the estate lawyers argued that Campbell's daughter, Debby Campbell Cloyd's objections to the $211,533 legal bill is just another one of her "baseless objections."
The filing comes exactly a week before a hearing to finally resolve the issue, which has been festering since 2019. Probate Master Elizabeth Johnson is set to hear arguments from both sides in a 9 a.m. Wednesday session.
Campbell died in August of 2017 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Campbell Cloyd is specifically objecting to legal fees submitted by GT Law and its lead attorney in the case Jay Cooper, whose hourly fee rose to $1,050 while working on the Campbell case.
The filing states that Cooper was Campbell's "neighbor and good friend" after Campbell moved to Los Angeles in 1960.
"Even after he (Campbell) moved to Nashville in 2014, all legal work related to his music career remained with Mr. Cooper in Los Angeles," the filing states.
Stating that the estate case "has presented complex entertainment and intellectual property law related issues," the filing argues that the fees are competitive with other entertainment law firms in Los Angeles.
In addition to being familiar with Campbell's professional career, the motion states that Cooper was also familiar with the singer's divorce obligations from prior marriages.
Filed in behalf of Kimberly Campbell, the singer's widow and executor of the estate, the motion disputes claims by Campbell Cloyd that some of the GT law firm's work did not benefit the estate.
"Simply because GT Law's services may have indirectly benefitted Mrs. Campbell's community property interests does not mean that this work disadvantaged other interested parties," the filing states.
Progress on finalizing the estate, the filing concludes, "is hindered by Ms. Campbell Cloyd's continued baseless objections."