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New York City Mayor Eric Adams has hired high-profile Quinn Emanuel partner Alex Spiro as he faces federal bribery, fraud, and campaign finance charges that were unsealed on Thursday.
Hours before the full charges against Adams were revealed, law enforcement raided his residence, Gracie Mansion. According to multiple outlets, agents seized the mayor’s phone, which Spiro called unnecessary.
“They sent a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in,” the 41-year-old said in a statement that morning. “Federal agents appeared this morning at Gracie Mansion in an effort to create a spectacle (again) and take [Adams’] phone (again). He has not been arrested and looks forward to his day in court.”
Spiro is one of the most prominent lawyers in the country, recognized for representing clients like Elon Musk during his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, now known as X. He has also defended celebrities including Alec Baldwin, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Megan Thee Stallion, and Jay-Z.
Here’s a closer look at some of the high-profile clients he has fiercely defended.
Elon Musk
Spiro has represented Musk in various legal matters, including a high-profile defamation case related to Musk’s 2018 tweets about taking Tesla private. In those tweets, Musk claimed he had “funding secured” to take the company private at $420 per share, which led to significant stock market volatility and investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In September 2018, Musk and Tesla reached a settlement with the SEC, with Musk agreeing to step down as chairman for three years and pay a $20 million fine. Additionally, Tesla was required to implement procedures to oversee Musk’s communications, particularly on social media.
Beyond this case, Spiro has also represented Musk in other legal issues, including defamation claims related to Musk’s comments about the 2018 rescue of a youth soccer team from a cave in Thailand. Musk referred to one of the rescuers as a “pedo guy” on Twitter, which led to a defamation lawsuit; however, the case was ultimately dismissed, with the court ruling in Musk’s favor.
In addition, Spiro has provided legal support to Musk concerning various business ventures, including those involving SpaceX and Neuralink.
Alec Baldwin
Spiro represented Baldwin in the involuntary manslaughter case following the tragic shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust. The incident occurred in October 2021 when a prop gun Baldwin was using discharged, resulting in Hutchins’s death and injuring director Joel Souza.
However, in April 2023, the charges were dropped by prosecutors, who cited new evidence that led them to reconsider the case. The decision to drop the charges came after Baldwin and his legal team had consistently maintained that he did not pull the trigger and that safety protocols were not followed.
Megan Thee Stallion
Spiro most notably represented Megan Thee Stallion as a victim and witness in the trial of Tory Lanez, who was convicted in 2022 of shooting her in the foot during a 2020 argument. When defense attorneys opened the trial by arguing that the case was really about “jealousy,” Spiro didn’t mince words in an interview with ABC News: “It’s obviously absurd and an attempt at distraction. [Tory Lanez] shot her, and that’s what the case is about.”
In addition to the trial, Spiro also represented her in contentious litigation against her former record label, 1501 Certified Entertainment. In this case, she claimed she had been duped into signing an “unconscionable” record deal as a young artist.
Robert Kraft
Spiro represented Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, in a high-profile case involving charges of solicitation of prostitution. The charges stemmed from a police sting operation at massage parlors in Florida, where Kraft was accused of engaging in illicit activities.
Spiro’s defense focused on challenging the legality of the evidence gathered during the investigation, particularly the surveillance footage and the manner in which the sting operation was conducted. He argued that Kraft’s rights were violated and sought to have the charges dismissed on those grounds.
Ultimately, the case was resolved when Kraft agreed to a deal that involved a dismissal of the charges after completing a diversion program. The resolution allowed Kraft to avoid a trial and any potential legal consequences stemming from the allegations.
Jay-Z
Spiro, recognized as one of Billboard’s Top Music Lawyers, is best known in the music industry for representing Jay-Z and his Roc Nation companies in various legal matters.
He managed a years-long case involving a troubled cologne endorsement deal, successfully defeating a demand for $67 million in damages and winning Jay-Z $7 million in unpaid royalties. Additionally, Spiro assisted Jay-Z, Meek Mill, and other stars in penning an open letter advocating for legislation that would prohibit prosecutors from using rap lyrics as evidence in criminal cases.
Eric Adams
Aside from Adams’s current case, where he is being represented by Spiro along with WilmerHale partners Brendan McGuire and Boyd Johnson III, Spiro has also served as co-counsel in another case involving an alleged 1993 sexual assault. In that case, a former police colleague accused Adams of demanding oral sex in exchange for career assistance.
While Spiro is known to bill clients up to $2,000 per hour, his firm charged the city $250 per hour for partners and $175 for associates, according to the Law Department. A spokesperson for the Law Department explained that outside firms are sometimes retained to assist in litigation, emphasizing that they chose Quinn Emanuel to effectively represent the city and the mayor.
Legal experts noted that Adams’s decision to hire Spiro suggests he is taking the allegations seriously. Spiro has sought to dismiss the case or, at the very least, push for an evidentiary hearing, while Adams has consistently denied the allegations against him.
