Giuliani sued over $1.4 million in unpaid legal fees

[September 20, 2023]  By Andrew Goudsward
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rudy Giuliani is facing a lawsuit that claims the former New York mayor owes a law firm nearly $1.4 million in unpaid legal fees connected to his work as Donald Trump's personal lawyer. 

New York law firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron said Giuliani has paid only $214,000 of nearly $1.6 million in legal expenses and fees he racked up between November 2019 and July 2023, according to a complaint filed on Monday in New York state court.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for former U.S. President Donald Trump during challenges to the 2020 election results, exits U.S. District Court after attending a hearing in a defamation suit related to the 2020 election results that has been brought against Giuliani by two Georgia election workers, at the federal courthouse in Washington, U.S., May 19, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

Robert Costello, a partner at the firm, represented Giuliani in probes by federal and state prosecutors into Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, an investigation into Giuliani’s business and political activities in Ukraine, and a U.S. House panel’s inquiry into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to the complaint.

The firm also helped coordinate Giuliani’s defense in various civil lawsuits and attorney disciplinary proceedings, according to the lawsuit.

Giuliani said in a statement that the law firm's bill "is way in excess to anything approaching legitimate fees.”

"I can't express how personally hurt I am by what Bob Costello has done," he said.

Giuliani has faced mounting legal challenges since helping to lead Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election with discredited claims of voter fraud.

He was charged last month along with Trump and 17 others in a sprawling racketeering case brought by prosecutors in Georgia. Costello is not part of Giuliani’s defense team in that case. Giuliani has pleaded not guilty.

He is also listed as an uncharged co-conspirator in a federal indictment brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith charging Trump with conspiring to subvert the 2020 election results.

Giuliani has struggled to pay his growing legal bills, according news reports. Trump, the front runner for the Republican nomination in 2024, hosted a fundraiser at his New Jersey golf club this month to help Giuliani cover his legal costs.

The Giuliani complaint seeks payment with interest on the unpaid legal fees and funds to cover the cost of attorneys’ work on the lawsuit.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Josie Kao)

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