Former Trump White House adviser Stephen Ok. Bannon is on the hook for greater than $480,000 after a New York decide dominated in favor of his ex-legal crew’s declare that he snubbed them on cost.
New York Supreme Court Judge Arlene Bluth, in her ruling, awarded the agency Davidff Hutcher & Citron a abstract judgment of $480,487.87— the authorized retainer that Mr. Bannon uncared for to pay – and the authorized charges tied to the lawsuit introduced in opposition to him.
Davidoff Hutcher & Citron filed swimsuit in opposition to Mr. Bannon in February, claiming the agency was not paid for authorized providers rendered between Nov. 2020 and Nov. 2022, New York Post reported.
Mr. Bannon, 69, was represented by the agency’s companion Robert Costello throughout that interval, who helped safe the previous Trump administration official a presidential pardon in 2020.
The similar agency and lawyer additionally represented former Trump lawyer Rudolph Giuliani starting in 2019.
According to the legislation agency, Mr. Bannon paid out $375,000 out of the greater than $850,000 billed by Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, LLC.
Mr. Bannon, nevertheless, claimed that he advised his attorneys to cease engaged on his behalf in January 2022 and that Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, LLC carried out work on issues separate from the subject material of the retainer settlement.
He additionally stated that Mr. Costello could be a witness in a case in opposition to him, so he mustn’t must pay the agency.
“Defendant’s assertion that he need not pay legal fees because an attorney for plaintiff might be a witness in the case in the District of Columbia is also without merit,” Judge Bluth wrote in her ruling.
“As plaintiff pointed out, Mr. Costello filed a notice of withdrawal in that case in July 2022, well after the time defendant allegedly told plaintiff to stop representing him. Nor did defendant adequately explain how the fact that an attorney might be called as a witness is a valid defense to not paying legal bills.”
Mr. Bannon was convicted final October for refusing to adjust to a House subpoena from the Jan. 6 Select Committee. He was sentenced to 4 months in jail and ordered to pay a $6,500 positive, however his sentence was postponed in November when he appealed the decision.
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