Renowned lawyer added to Adams’ defense team
NEW YORK — Celebrity attorney Alex Spiro, whose clients include Elon Musk and Jay-z, has been retained to represent Mayor Eric Adams against a lawsuit accusing him of sexually assaulting a police colleague over three decades ago, according to court filings.
A Manhattan Supreme Court notice submitted Monday says
Spiro, partner at the Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Sullivan law firm, has signed on to serve as Adams’ co-counsel in the case brought by Lorna Beach-mathura, a Florida resident who alleges the mayor assaulted her while they worked together at the city Transit Police Department in the early 1990s.
Adams denies the assault claim and has said he doesn’t recall ever meeting Beach-mathura.
The new court filing says Spiro will also serve as co-counsel for the NYPD’S Transit Bureau, which Beach-mathura named as a defendant alongside Adams, alleging it discriminated against her and helped “enable” his conduct.
The city Law Department will continue to represent Adams and the NYPD together with Spiro in the assault case, according to the court papers.
A Law Department spokesman told the New York Daily News that city taxpayer dollars will be used to cover legal fees incurred by Spiro and his firm as part of the case. Spiro is expected to bill the city $250 per hour to represent the mayor, while any associates at Spiro’s firm working the case will cost $175 per hour, according to the department.
“We retained the firm of Quinn Emanuel to serve as co-counsel to assist us in representing the city and the mayor in this case to ensure the Law Department can maximize its existing resources on our numerous other matters,” spokesman Nicholas Paolucci said.
Spiro did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.