Lil Wayne Attorney Says He’s Yet to Be Paid

(CN) - The attorney who represented Lil Wayne in his legal battle with Cash Money Records now claims in court the rapper owes him $375,000 in unpaid legal fees.

Michael Kramer represented the rapper, whose given name is Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., in a lawsuit filed in January against his record label, Cash Money Records.

Cash Money, a New York City-based record label, has put out each and every one of Lil Wayne's official releases since 1998.

But starting with the 2010 Lil Wayne album "Rebirth," Carter's own imprint on Cash Money, called Young Money, has co-released the rapper's records, as well as albums released by Drake and Nicki Minaj, among others, the complaint said.

Carter controls 49 percent of the imprint, with Cash Money taking the lion's share of the joint venture.

The rapper's Jan. 28 lawsuit claims that Cash Money owes him $8 million for his forthcoming album, "Tha Carter V," and seeks a total of $51 million in damages. The action is still pending in court.

But Kramer says Lil Wayne has not paid him anything more than a $20,000 retainer for his work on this case, as well as his work as counsel in the rapper's disputes with Universal Music Group and Aspire Music.

Kramer says he billed his client every month from November 2014 to October 2015, but received nothing but promises.

"Plaintiff continued to attempt to obtain payment from defendants and made numerous attempts to resolve the dispute amicably. These attempts were ultimately unsuccessful," the complaint says.

"Defendants acknowledged receipt of all bills sent by MBKA and also acknowledged that all of MBKA's [Michael B. Kramer & Associates] services were rendered in full and never disputed any of MBKA's bills or charges," the lawsuit continues.

Kramer, who is representing himself, seeks damages for breach of contract, and promissory estoppel.

Representatives of Carter and Cash Money Records could not immediately be reached for comment.

Lil Wayne faces a number of other cases for allegedly failing to pay his bills. Eighth Day Sound Systems claims he owes the company $232,000 in tour expenses from 2013, and the rapper's tour bus driver sued him for $75,000 in unpaid wages.

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