The drama around Paula Deen continues today as reports say she has fired her legal team, led by the firm of Oliver Maner. Deen also fired her agent last week. Maner was defending her against a civil lawsuit filed by Lisa Jackson , a former manager of Uncle Bubba’s Seafood and Oyster House that Deen co-owns. A source close to Deen says “she and her team decided the previous attorneys were out of their depth,” so she hired a replacement, Grace Speights. The Washington, D.C.-based partner in Morgan Lewis’s Labor and Employment practice brings “one of the top labor firms in the country,” says the source. Her new legal team also consists of Patricia Glaser, whom The Hollywood Reporter calls one of America’s top entertainment power lawyers this year. Deen is continuing to work with the PR firm The Rose Group and has also hired Judy Smith, the inspiration for the main character, Olivia Pope, on Scandal . In all, she hopes to rebound from her dramatic downfall, in which she lost a multitude of business deals, following her admission to using racial slurs . Deen made that revelation during a legal deposition in connection with Lisa Jackson’s civil suit, which she denies the basis for and wants thrown out.
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Paula Deen Fires Legal Team, Hires "Scandal" Inspiration
