Perez’s ex-lawyer suing city for legal fees
HARTFORD – Eddie Perez may have dropped his legal battle with the city of Hartford when he decided to run for mayor, but the lawyer who represented him is now taking up his fight for legal fees in a new lawsuit against the city.
Hubert J. Santos, of the Hartford law firm Santos & LaLima, represented Perez from 2009 to 2017, when the former mayor was defending himself against corruption charges and the revocation of his pension, and seeking $1 million from the city to cover the legal fees he racked up. Perez withdrew that suit in March, just before he announced a bid for mayor.
Santos argues that Hartford must still pay Perez’s legal fees because Perez was mayor when he “entered into an oral contract,” with Santos and he “had the actual authority to bind the city of Hartford to enter into a contract” with his firm, according to the complaint filed Thursday.
Santos “would not have represented [Perez] and undertaken thousands of hours’ worth of work had the promise not been made,” the lawsuit states.
A 2009 memo from Jim Pittler, an insurance agent who was representing the city, also stated that Hartford is obligated to pay Perez’s legal fees, according to the suit.
Santos’ attorney does not say how much money he is seeking from the city.
Hugh Keefe, the New Haven attorney representing Santos, confirmed Thursday that Perez amassed $1 million in legal fees. He said lawyers are entitled to be paid for their work.
“Hubie did a masterful job representing Perez. Even though ultimately Perez was convicted, he didn’t go to jail,” Keefe said, noting that is the true mark of a job well done by a criminal attorney.
“Hedid a hell of a job,” Keefe said of Santos. A city spokesman declined to comment Thursday.
Santos began representing Perez after the state convened a grand jury to investigate corruption in Hartford in 2008, seven years into Perez’s time in office.
As a result of the investigation, Perez was arrested on two separate occasions in 2009, and convicted of corruption charges at trial in 2010, after which he resigned as mayor.
Perez fought his convictions for years, eventually got them overturned and then pleaded guilty in August 2017 to taking a bribe and attempted first-degree larceny by extortion. He was spared prison.
Santos continued to represent the exmayor until March, when Perez dropped his lawsuit seeking legal fees from the city. Later that month, a Superior Court judge revoked Perez’s $27,945.12 annual pension.
In April, Perez announced his bid for mayor. While he lost the Sept. 10 primary to incumbent Luke Bronin, it’s not clear whether that defeat has ended his comeback campaign.
Perez had promised before the primary election to support the Democratic nominee, but upon losing, said he had to consider his next move.
Reached Thursday, Perez declined to comment on Santos’ lawsuit and said he was still making up his mind about the mayoral race.
Rebecca Lurye can be reached at rlurye@courant.com.