1 year ago
Rudy Giuliani's ex-lawyers are suing the former New York City mayor for failing to pay legal fees amounting to $1.36 million they charged while representing him in numerous controversies — several of them related to Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.
Robert J. Costello, a longtime friend of Giuliani, and his law firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP filed the complaint on Monday in a state court in Manhattan.
The new lawsuit adds to the list of legal troubles the former Trump lawyer has had to pay his own way through. Giuliani faces charges in Georgia, surrendering to police at a Fulton County jail last month over charges that he helped conspire with Trump to overthrow the election by lying to state legislators and spreading election fraud misinformation. A week later, a federal judge ruled that he was liable for defaming two Georgia election workers.
And now his old counsel is turning against him, accusing him of not paying up all the money he owes them for representing him throughout these his legal battles. Giuliani has already paid the firm — which he employed on a retainer agreement that it alleges he broke — $214,000, with his last payment made on Sept. 14 in the amount of $10,000, according to the filing. In total, the firm has charged him $1.57 million from 2019 to 2023.
"I can't express how personally hurt I am by what Bob Costello has done," Giuliani told POLITICO in a statement. "It's a real shame when lawyers do things like this, and all I will say is that their bill is way in excess to anything approaching legitimate fees."
Insider first reported the lawsuit on Monday.
While Trump has millions of dollars in various pots to help fund his legal battles, including a notable amount coming from his campaign accounts, the former mayor does not. Since he left office, Giuliani has made money with various consulting and law ventures. But after he helped represent Trump in court as the former president sought to overturn the 2020 vote results, a New York state court suspended his law license. In a potential harbinger for financial troubles, Giuliani put his $6.5 million apartment on the market this summer as his lawyers claimed in court that he is "close to broke." He currently hosts a podcast called “Common Sense" and a daily radio show.
Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.
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