Radio host 'MJ' Schnitt battles former attorneys in court

TAMPA (FOX 13) - It was two larger-than-life shock jocks battling it out in court in 2013: Todd "MJ" Schnitt suing Bubba "The Love Sponge" Clem in a defamation lawsuit.

The jury sided with Bubba, but that wasn't the end of it.  Schnitt's legal team said he never paid his legal bill which, totaled nearly a million dollars. 

Now, they're suing Schnitt -- and the Schnitts are counter-suing.

In a video deposition last May, Michelle Schnitt said she and her husband decided suing Bubba for defamation was the only way to stop this.

"I met with Mr. Campbell to see what we could do about shutting him down, shutting him up," said Schnitt.

The name calling, the Photoshopped pictures, and the insults were too much, but Michelle says the lawsuit made it worse.

"Just the continued attacks. They were going on every single day," she said in frustration.

The Schnitts hired attorney Phil Campbell of Shumaker, Loop and Kendrick.  But in the end, the jury sided with Bubba.

The Schnitts handed a loss and a hefty legal bill that totaled near $1-million.

Michelle acknowledged she got Bubba to leave her alone but she credited her current attorney, Will Florin, who helped mediate a settlement. 

But court records show the Schnitts didn't pay all of their legal bills, so now the law firm is suing the Schnitts.  And the Schnitts are counter-suing, saying the case wasn't even winnable.

Todd Schnitt explained that, in video deposition played for the jury today, "if I knew I wasn't going to be able to recover what I spent, I would have never filed this lawsuit."

Under oath, Michelle was asked about secret plots she would suggest to disrupt Bubba's promotional events and embarrass him.

"Isn't it true that you were looking for ways cause trouble, inconvenience, cause harm, cause damage of any kind to Mr. Clem -- whether or not it helped your lawsuit?" Attorney Joe Varner asked Michelle.

"That was a path that Mr. Campbell promoted for us," she replied.

But in emails read in court, Campbell discouraged the Schnitts to go that route. 

The trial is expected to last two weeks.