Harvey Weinstein sues ex-attorney to recover $1 million legal fees
Harvey Weinstein is an angry man! The disgraced Hollywood producer is seeking $1 million in legal fees from his former lawyer Jose Baez. Baez briefly represented Weinstein in his New York rape case. Weinstein argued that Baez messed up their initial contract and the invoicing for all the legal work. The attorney came into the national spotlight after winning the infamous Casey Anthony case.
Baez was Weinstein's lawyer for nearly five months in 2019
Baez was Weinstein's lawyer for nearly five months in 2019. Weinstein initially agreed to pay Baez $2 million in total to cover the trial and post-trial proceedings. However, he was unhappy with his ex-lawyer who was "regularly preoccupied with other matters, regularly unavailable to communicate to Weinstein, and not directly involved with the compilation, investigation, research, and drafting of various high priority substantive legal work."
Baez's representative responds to the lawsuit 'by a vile fiend'
Joe Tacopina, who represents Baez, said, "Harvey Weinstein's lawsuit against Jose Baez and his firm is nothing more than yet another predatory act by a vile fiend, utterly lacking in credibility." "Despite Weinstein's penchant for bullying, Jose Baez is an upstanding pillar of the legal community who will not be pushed around and looks forward to exposing Weinstein's claims for what they are, audacious lies."
The trial of Weinstein: How it started, went on
After Baez backed out of the case, Weinstein hired Donna Rotunno and Damon Cheronis to lead his trial. Weinstein lost the case and was sentenced to 23 years in a New York prison. He was found guilty of third-degree rape and a first-degree sexual act. He also faces 11 criminal charges in California. If convicted, Weinstein could be put behind bars for 140 years.
Weinstein, the man, will remain a disgrace to Hollywood
A lot of women came forward to speak about the sexual abuse they endured from Weinstein. This disturbingly long list of women included actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd. New Yorker published allegations from 13 more women, including accusations of rape. Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie also said they were harassed by Weinstein. The scandal's impact led to the rise of the #MeToo movement.
