Tanya Tucker Sues Former Lawyer For Loan Repayment

It seems the law is on Tanya Tucker's side. The singer sued entertainment lawyer Joel Cherry, seeking repayment of a loan for $247,841.48 that she gave him in 2003, and the court has ruled in her favor.

According to Nashville's Tennessean, Cherry never responded to papers served to him while he was living in San Francisco, and Tucker was granted a default judgement. But while he may now be legally required to pay, actually getting her money back might be a challenge. The former corporate attorney, who also worked for Gibson Guitar Corp. and Tractor Supply Co., claimed in a 2006 letter to Tucker's late father, Beau Tucker,  that mitigating circumstances contributed to his delinquent payments.

“The IRS settlement, the divorce, the kids’ college costs, the end of the management company and the 10 months between leaving Gibson and coming to Tractor Supply Company have left me with a pile of obligations I’m slowly getting a grip on,” he wrote. “My abilities are extremely limited. I have a moral obligation to make sure my kids can get through school. I have other obligations which I have no say in reducing. That leaves me little to get by on for the foreseeable future but that’s OK.”

Cherry also cited Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson and Jimmy Buffett among the list of celebrity clients he had while working as an entertainment lawyer.

The 'Delta Dawn' singer admits she is tired of being taken advantage of, which is why she hopes to release her next album independently.

“I’m not working with a label right now,” she tells The Boot. “I’ve been with so many labels. I’m kind of anti-label right now, but it depends, there’s new people coming up all the time that maybe won’t steal from you. That’s a real common thing. Now artists can make more money having your own label. We’re just tired of being stolen from all of our lives, at least I have been. I’m trying to keep a little of the money for myself, but it’s not about the money really. It’s about kicking ass one more time.”