Michael Jackson's Estate Seeking Over $9 Million in Legal Fees

Michael Jackson's estate is asking the court for permission to pay its various lawyers over $9 million for services rendered over the course of six years ... as they battle Paris Jackson's request for legal fees for a much shorter time frame.

The estate says the payday is earned ... noting that when MJ died in 2009, he had more than $500 million in debt accruing interest, which has since been paid off and then some.

Now ... the executor says the estate has been transformed into a $2 billion conglomerate ... and claims the lawyers and other professionals did this by betting on their ability to turn things around. The bill is for six years of work ... which includes everything from tax planning, trademarks, business deals, legal matters, and various other issues the estate deals with.

As you know ... the executor of Michael's estate, John Branca, filed legal docs Monday pushing back on Paris' request for $1,165,481.90 in legal bills.

It's not that he disputes the bills should be paid at all -- he does acknowledge Paris did help the estate get back $625,000 in bonuses paid to attorneys.

It's just that he believes that she should get paid just for the fights he says she won and for the benefits she actually got for the estate's beneficiaries.