A Macomb County (Mich.) judge ruled that Eminem's mother is entitled to only about $1,600 of a $25,000 settlement she won against her son.
Debbie Mathers originally brought a $11 million defamation of character lawsuit against the hip-hop star in 1999. In June, Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Mark Switalski ruled in her favor for $25,000.
But on Monday, Switalski ruled that $23,354.25 of that figure belonged to Mathers' attorney, Fred Gibson.
Lawyers on both sides of the case say the ruling is Mathers' fault, because a deal she made with Gibson concerning her ex-husband entitled the lawyer to more than the standard one-third of the settlement.
Mathers sued her son, whose real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress over lyrics on his debut CD, "The Slim Shady LP."
Mathers told the Detroit Free Press Monday that she is writing a book about her life raising Eminem.