An attorney for scandal-plagued star Bill Cosby is charging that several of his sexual assault accusers "have chosen the nuclear option" by now demanding that members of his legal team be financially sanctioned over some of their actions.

Attorney Patrick O'Connor went on the offensive in a brief he filed this week responding to an earlier motion placed before the court by Joseph Cammarata and Robert Sachs, a pair of attorneys representing three of the legendary comedian's accusers: Tamara Green, Therese Serignese and Linda Trinz.

According to Philly.com, in their Aug. 7 motion, Cammarata and Sachs asked U.S. District Judge John Padova in Philadelphia to force several of Cosby's lawyers to pay their attorneys' fees, which are being incurred in litigating an earlier July 24 motion filed by O'Connor.

The motion that triggered all of the controversy asked Padova to allow Cosby's legal team "to take discovery on the circumstances surrounding the release of the complete transcript of [Cosby's] deposition to The New York Times and to other media organizations."

From those documents, parts of Cosby's secret two-day testimony in a 2005 sexual assault civil trial involving former Temple University employee Andrea Constand were made public.

Constand is one of dozens of women claiming that over the years they were drugged and sexually assaulted by Cosby. More than 40 women have recently emerged to voice similar accusations, and Cosby is slated to again be deposed in an upcoming civil filing in California that is being handled by famed civil rights attorney Gloria Allred.

In the Constand case, Cosby maintained he engaged in consensual acts with her after giving her Benadryl for stress. The case was ultimately settled under a confidential agreement.

In the latest twist, Cammarata and Sachs claim Cosby's attorneys were "vexatiously" multiplying the legal proceedings by filing "frivolous" motions. Green, Serignese and Trinz charge Cosby recently defamed them when his agents vigorously denied that he ever sexually abused them.

The now 78-year-old Cosby has never been charged with a crime and has repeatedly denied all the accusations hurled in his direction.