Rudy Giuliani Is Being Sued By His Former Lawyers For Unpaid Bills
According to CBS News, attorney Robert Costello and his firm, Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, filed a lawsuit in New York state supreme court on Monday, September 18th alleging that the former New York City mayor currently owes the firm $1.3M in outstanding payments.
The suit alleged that the firm represented Giuliani in more than 10 lawsuits which were filed against him "in various state and federal courts," as well as the ongoing disciplinary proceedings regarding his law license in Washington, D.C. and New York. "This action simply seeks payment of an outstanding bill for legal services rendered by plaintiffs in the amount of $1,360,196.10," read the lawsuit, according to The Guardian.
As per the lawsuit, Costello worked on matters including "representing the defendant while he was being criminally investigated by the US attorney for the southern district of New York, representing the defendant during a pending criminal investigation in Georgia… representing the defendant during a pending criminal investigation by special counsel Jack Smith regarding the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, and representing the defendant during a pending investigation by the US House select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol."
The suit went on to say that Giuliani "directed plaintiffs to supervise more than 10 civil lawsuits… 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."
Giuliani and Costello are long-term associates and were federal prosecutors together in New York in the 1970s. Giuliani said that he was "hurt" by the lawsuit filed by his long-term associate, and said in a statement: "I can’t express how personally hurt I am by what Bob Costello has done. 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."