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Nelly's attorneys want former St. Lunatics member Ali K. Jones to pay up after his legal team moved to dismiss his lawsuit against the "Country Grammar" rapper.
Jones accused Nelly, born Cornell Haynes, of not compensating him for his alleged contributions to the multi-platinum artist's debut album Country Grammar. He claimed Haynes purposely cut him and other members of the rap group out of credits and royalties. However, three of the members who were originally included in the lawsuit demanded to be removed. Now, Jones' attorneys have filed a motion to drop the case without any explanation, but Nelly's team isn't trying to let it go that easily.
“Plaintiff’s counsel succeeded in its frivolous campaign aimed at forcing Haynes to spend money defending Plaintiff’s ridiculous time-barred claims,” Nelly's lawyers wrote according to a report Billboard published on Thursday, April 10. “The Court is respectfully requested to retain jurisdiction and set a briefing and hearing schedule for [potential sanctions].”
Jones originally claimed Haynes cut their credits from his debut album and allegedly "manipulated" them into thinking that the group would get paid. When the lawsuit was filed last fall, Jones included Murphy Lee (Tohri Harper), Kyjuan (Robert Kyjuan) and City Spud (Lavell Webb) as plaintiffs. A month later, Nelly's attorneys told a judge that Lee, Kyjuan and City Spud never wanted to sue Nelly in the first place and didn't authorize Jones' lawyers to include them in the lawsuit. Jones' legal team excluded them from a revised version of the lawsuit and continued to pursue the case.
Within the past few months, Nelly's attorneys have asked a judge not to dismiss the case and requested a hearing to discuss potential sanctions for Jones and his lawyers. They argued Jones' attorneys took legal action long after the statute of limitations expired and said the lawsuit was so "frivolous" that they should be punished for even filing it.
As of this report, the judge hasn't ruled on the sanctions request. During a hearing last month, the judge said he would decide on the next course of action after he rules on the motion to dismiss.