Judge Dismisses Nick Loeb’s Embryo Lawsuit Against Sofia Vergara, But Makes Her Pay $80,000 In His Attorney’s Fees

A L.A. judge has told Sofia Vergara to pay her ex Nicholas Loeb $76,433 in attorney’s fees and $2,959.26 in costs between their on-going court battles. 

Loeb filed a motion for attorney’s fees in June 2019. Moreover, he asked to receive $117,590.87 in attorney fees and $2,958.26 in costs. Loeb argued he was victorious in his anti-SLAPP motion as it linked to a “malicious prosecution claim.” However, Vergara argued the motion “should be denied or heavily-reduced to the extent it is based on block billing and seeks fees and costs for services not shown to be related to the successful portion of the anti-SLAPP motion.”

This payment, which is a total of $79,392.26, must be made within 30 days of notice of this decision.

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After evaluating the declarations and billing records, the court concluded the documents did not support the full fees sought by Loeb. As a result, it implemented a reduction in the fee award of 35 percent.

“The Court finds that there is no alternative method of calculating a fee award that would yield a more accurate or just result, and that a further reduction would be insufficient to compensate Defendant for the attorney’s fees and costs incurred in pursuing the anti-SLAPP motion,” the documents stated.

Last year, Vergara’s ex moved to the Bayou State in an attempt to win his trial there, since he hoped Louisiana would recognize the unborn embryos’ rights. The case bounced to various Louisiana courts before landing in the 25th Judicial District Court for Plaquemines Parish, where Judge Kevin D. Conner handed Vergara a big victory. Conner dismissed Loeb’s case on Oct. 11 “with prejudice,” ruling in Vergara’s favor.

Previously, the Modern Family star was engaged to Loeb. However, they broke up in 2014. Throughout their time together, the two considered having a child using in-vitro fertilization and a third-party surrogate. Before starting the procedure, both parties signed an agreement, which stated that one person could not use the cryopreserved material to create a child without the explicit written permission of the other.

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Following the actress and her former fiancé split, in 2014, Loeb tried to obtain full custody of the embryos and bring them to term. However, the actress argued this violated their agreement.

Vergara is now married to Joe Manganiello. The two got married in 2015.