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Attorney-client disputes over unpaid fees aren’t generally the stuff of great interest. But a complaint filed on Monday against Rudy Giuliani reinforces the staggering legal exposure the former New York City mayor and top federal prosecutor faces.
In mounting the claim for precisely $1,360,196.10 in purportedly unpaid fees, lawyer Robert Costello and the Davidoff Hutcher & Citron law firm recounted some of the services rendered in recent years. According to the complaint:
The legal services included, but were not limited to representing the Defendant [Rudy Giuliani] while he was being criminally investigated by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, representing the Defendant during a pending criminal investigation in Georgia by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, representing the Defendant during a pending criminal investigation by Special Counsel Jack Smith regarding the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, and representing the Defendant during a pending investigation by the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
That’s on top of “more than ten civil lawsuits filed against the Defendant that were commenced in various state and federal courts as well as participating in representing the Defendant in disciplinary proceedings regarding his law license in the District of Columbia and the First Department of New York,” according to the New York state court suit.
It thus serves as a reminder not only of Giuliani’s criminal troubles but civil problems as well. Those intensified recently when he was found liable in a defamation lawsuit brought by former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. Giuliani's lies claiming they committed fraud during the 2020 election could result in a big payday on damages for the mother-daughter duo.
As for election lies transferring to criminal exposure, Giuliani is one of the 19 defendants charged in the Georgia racketeering case. And as NBC News noted in its report on the legal fees suit, he appears to be an un-indicted and un-named co-conspirator in the federal election interference indictment. He pleaded not guilty in Georgia. He hasn’t been charged in Washington.
To his credit, the filing claims Giuliani paid $214,000, which leaves the $1,360,196.10 owed. If that’s an accurate assessment, it’s unclear what the thinking, if any, was when it came to the partial payment. As a general matter, it’s not too unusual for clients and lawyers to have financial disagreements.
But whatever happens with this admittedly pricey fee dispute, the suit itself highlights that it’s just a fraction of the former lawman’s legal troubles. Time will tell if another Donald Trump-hosted, $100,000-a-plate fundraiser to benefit Giuliani is on the horizon.