Jay Z's Label Roc Nation Launches Legal Counter-Attack On Rita Ora

Roc Nation has launched a legal counter-attack on Rita Ora in New York — but her lawyer says Jay Z has already agreed to snuff the "R.I.P." singer's five-album contract.

"I think we're just going to resolve this," Ora's lawyer Howard King told the Daily News Monday.

He said Jay Z called Ora personally back in December when she filed her original lawsuit in Los Angeles. Her complaint asked the court to void the Roc Nation contract she signed in 2008 when she was 18 years old.

"He said he's happy to let her go. He called her the day we filed and graciously said she didn't need to file," King told The News.

"I'm paraphrasing, but he said, 'If you want off the label, we'll let you go,'" King said.

The lawyer said he believed Roc Nation's new counter-lawsuit was filed "reluctantly" to meet a court deadline, and he hoped to reach a settlement before a hearing set for April 19 in Los Angeles.

"Of course there could always be a fly in the ointment," he said.

In its Friday filing in New York, Roc Nation sued Ora, 25, for breach of contract and claimed it's suffered millions of dollars in damages.

The company said Ora agreed to five albums under her 2008 contract but only delivered one.

"Roc Nation's marketing and recording costs, to date, for Ms. Ora's still incomplete second album are not less than $2,353,500," the lawsuit states.

The filing claims Ora's contract expressly provided for the application of New York law in case of dispute, so Roc Nation filed in Manhattan Supreme Court even though Ora filed in Los Angeles.

It's no secret why Ora chose to file in California. The state where she now lives has a famous "seven-year rule" that limits enforceability on certain exclusive personal service contracts to seven years.

In her filing, Ora claimed she was "orphaned" by Roc Nation when the company turned its focus to sports management and other endeavors.

"When Rita signed, Roc Nation and its senior executives were very involved with her as an artist," her complaint states. "As Roc Nation's interests diversified, there were fewer resources available and the company suffered a revolving door of executives. Rita's remaining supporters at the label left or moved on to other activities, to the point where she no longer had a relationship with anyone at the company."

Ora claimed she was left to pay for her own promotional activities and was "caught in a political quagmire of dysfunction."

Don't mess with Jay Z …….

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