SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Gwyneth Paltrow will not recover attorney fees she paid to successfully defend herself from a lawsuit brought by a 76-year-old retired optometrist who claimed she was at fault for colliding with him on a fancy ski slope. from Utah in 2016.
In a final decision released Saturday, a Utah judge upheld a unanimous jury verdict that found Terry Sanderson, the man who collided with Paltrow, to be “100% at fault,” awarded Paltrow $1 he was seeking in a countersuit. and left attorney fees to be decided by District Court Judge Kent Holmberg.
The ruling notes that Paltrow will not be able to ask Sanderson to pay attorneys’ fees and that Sanderson in turn will not appeal the verdict, ending a protracted seven-year legal battle that erupted after the two collided on a beginner’s track. near the base of the Deer Valley Resort in Utah.
Representatives for Paltrow and Sanderson were not immediately available to answer questions about the final decision or the money at stake. Neither side has publicly disclosed how much the legal battle, which involved teams of lawyers, expert witnesses from across the United States and, in Paltrow’s case, high-resolution animation recreations of her memories of the accident, cost.
The legal battle was fought last month in court over eight days with the “Shakespeare in Love” star and “Ironman” present. It became the most closely watched American celebrity trial since actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard clashed last year.
Sanderson’s lawsuit accused Paltrow of negligence and of rear-ending him, then leaving the scene of the accident without making sure he was in good physical condition. He was seeking more than $300,000 in damages, a limit in Utah civil court that allows parties to present the most evidence and take statements from the longest possible list of witnesses.
Paltrow subsequently countersued for a token $1 and her attorneys’ fees, alleging that Sanderson had crashed into her from behind and was suing her to exploit her fame and celebrity.
Followed by live courtroom television cameras and extensive scrutiny from fans and detractors, Paltrow sat intently in the Park City courtroom throughout the proceedings last month and testified that, initially, when the accident, she thought she was being “raped”.
After the verdict, Sanderson’s lawyers said they were weighing whether to appeal the case or request a new trial. Paltrow and his attorney said in separate statements that the countersuit had more to do with their principles than the amount of dollars at stake.
“I felt that accepting a false claim compromised my integrity,” said the founder and CEO of beauty and wellness brand Goop.
