The law firm that used to represent Harvard alum and donor Buddy Fletcher in his frivolous lawsuit against the Dakota is now suing him for non-payment of legal fees. Which is ironic, but not surprising.

Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman LLP wants $2.3 million in legal fees from Fletcher. (It’s already charged him $998, 000.)

This, by the way, is money that Buddy Fletcher can’t afford and can’t pay, which makes you wonder even more why he filed the lawsuit against his former building, which denied him the right to buy his fourth apartment in the building after it reviewed his financials and deemed them shaky. (Fletcher alleged racial discrimination.) In the time since, Fletcher has done nothing other than validate that assessment.

Fletcher has been represented by several law firms so far; one wonders when the next lawsuit for non-payment will be filed.

In other Buddy Fletcher-related news, one recipient of his former largesse, Skip Gates, the Alphonse Fletcher Jr. University Professor, has now moved on to another deep-pocketed donor, financier Glenn Hutchins—and is apparently being criticized by some for doing so.

The website diverseeducation.com reports that some African-American scholars are upset about Gates’ relationship with the white donor—and, in particular, the fact that the new African-American studies center for which Gates just procured $15 million will have a white man’s name on the door.

“I refer to Skip Gates as the Booker T. Washington of Black studies,” said Dr. Raymond A. Winbush, who directs the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University. “He commands most of his respect from White benefactors.”

Another scholar points out that, while Tuskegee University received most of its original funding from Andrew Carnegie, it’s not called Andrew Carnegie University.

This seems like a bit of professional envy to me, but there are times when I can appreciate the frustration Gates inspires in some. The article also reports that…

At the launch of the Hutchins Center next week, Valarie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama, will receive the Du Bois Medal along with playwright Tony Kushner, U.S. Congressman John Lewis, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, director Steven Spielberg and David Stern, commissioner of the National Basketball Association….

I suppose you can make an argument about building bridges and contributions to African-American life coming in many forms and from many sources. But on another level, isn’t this just celebrity networking? It feels like a night at the Aspen Institute or something.