The smoke has somewhat cleared when it comes to the Paula Deen ‘n-word’ scandal, and although most of the damage to her career has already been done, the former Food Network star has reportedly fired her legal team.

About a week ago, Deen revealed she severed ties with her longtime manager, Barry Weiss, with her agent saying in an email, “Paula Deen has separated from her agent. She and her family thank him for the tireless effort and dedication over the many years."
Sources now tell People Deen has decided to fire her legal team from firm Oliver Manor.

“She and her team decided the previous attorneys were out of their depth,” said a source about the attorneys who were representing her in the civil lawsuit filed by Lisa Jackson, the former manager of one of her restaurants.

Deen has hired Washington D.C.-based firm Grace Speights to represent her. She’s also working with publicity firm The Rose Group and crisis manager Judy Smith, who is the inspiration for Olivia Pope from Scandal as she tries to weather this storm.

image: NBC