Amanda Knox Teams with Lawyer to Broker Book Deal

Amanda Knox has hired a well-known attorney to represent her in inking a book deal to tell her side of her story after she was acquitted of the murder of her roommate in Perugia, Italy.

Knox, who along with her one-time boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito was convicted in 2007 of the murder of her then-roommate Meredith Kercher, has signed a deal with lawyer Robert Barnet. The Washington, D.C. -based attorney will represent Knox while she discusses opportunities for book deals with publishers, according to Knox family spokesman Dave Marriott.

Barnet is one of the biggest names known as far as representing well-known media figures in the publishing world. He has previously brokered deals for Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Sarah Palin.

The Knox family spent over $1 million on attorneys, travel and the costs of living in Perugia to be near their daughter during her murder trials, her father Curt Knox told ABC News in 2009. Criminal defense attorney Gerald Lefcourt has estimated that her family may have spent more on Knox’s appeal than during the first two years leading to her conviction.

Although Knox was released in October from the Italian prison where she served four years of a 26-year sentence, the 24-year-old still owes 20,000 Euros, or $29,000, for defamation after accusing bar owner Patrick Lumumba of Kercher’s murder.