Los Angeles ? O.J. Simpson said Thursday that the law firm suing him for $204,000 in unpaid bills from the custody battle for his children “will have to wait” because he doesn’t have the money to pay them.

“One thing was clear at the beginning of the custody case I was broke,” Simpson said in a phone interview from Florida.

“I could not be more grateful to a group of people than I am to them,” Simpson said of the lawyers at Meserve, Mumper and Hughes who represented him.

He said his financial situation remained precarious with all of his funds devoted to the welfare of his children who attend a costly private school.

The law firm that sued Simpson in Orange County, Calif., says he failed to pay $204,275 in bills.

Simpson retained the firm to seek custody of his two minor children after he was acquitted of murder charges and released from jail in 1995.

“Simpson breached the contract and agreement by making payments for a period of time and then ceased to make payments,” the lawsuit said.

A jury acquitted Simpson of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. A civil jury later held the former football star liable for the killings and ordered him to pay the victims’ survivors $33.5 million. He has not worked since then because any money he makes could be seized to satisfy that judgment which remains largely unpaid.