Florida- from www.wjhg.com – Lawyers can be expensive. just ask “Girls Gone Wild” owner Joe Francis.

Last year he paid a Tallahassee law firm a 200-thousand dollars retainer to defend him in a federal lawsuit here in Bay County.

Four women claim Girls Gone Wild crews shot explicit Spring Break video of them in Panama City Beach while they were underage.

Francis hired the Bateman Harden law firm to represent him until last July when the case was supposed to go to trial. But the trial has been delayed three times.

The lawyers say they’ve performed extensive work on the case since July without being paid. So, Friday the law firm filed a lawsuit against Francis, seeking an additional 491-thousand dollars.

The firms representatives say their contract allowed then to charge additional fees if the trial was delayed. Francis’ trial is currently delayed because of pending appeals in the 11th Circuit Appeals Court in Atlanta.