Weinstein sues his ex-attorney to recover $1M in legal fees

Former film producer Harvey Weinstein is suing his former criminal defense attorney to recover $1 million in legal fees, according to a report from Reuters published Tuesday.  

Jose Baez represented the now-disgraced producer for six months before dropping him as a client, according to the wire service. 

In the lawsuit filed by Weinstein, the former producer claims that he agreed to pay Baez $2 million in $200,000 installments for his trial and post-trial proceedings. After paying Baez $1 million, Weinstein alleges that the agreement between him and his former attorney contained an “unlawful and misleading non-refundable retainer clause,” Reuters reported. 

The suit, filed by the former producer also alleges that Baez pushed most of the work in his case to another lawyer on his defense team, Harvard professor Ronald Sullivan. Sullivan quit in 2019, and Baez threatened to quit unless he was paid $1 million which violated the agreement in place, according to the lawsuit. 

Baez then asked to withdraw from the case about a month later, writing to a New York judge that Weinstein’s behavior made it uneasy to represent him. 

The news comes after Weinstein, 69, was convicted in February 2020 of rape and sexual assault and is currently serving a two-decade life sentence. The former movie mogul has appealed his conviction, arguing that his jury was not impartial.

In April, a judge delayed Weinstein’s extradition to California, where he is set to face more criminal charges related to alleged sexual misconduct. 

Reports began to surface in 2017 of allegations of sexual assault, misconduct and rape against Weinstein. Several women including high-profile actresses in Hollywood accused the former producer of misconduct.