Celebrity attorney Alex Spiro, whose clients include Elon Musk and Jay-Z, has been retained to represent Mayor 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 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.
Megan Goddard, an attorney for Beach-Mathura, did not return a request for comment.
The mayor drew some pushback over the decision to have the Law Department represent him in Beach-Mathura’s suit, given that the accusation pertains to an alleged incident that predates his time in public office. Sylvia Hinds-Radix, Adams’ corporation counsel, told reporters last month that her agency made the determination that he’s entitled to Law Department representation since he was a city transit cop at the time of the alleged assault.
Spiro’s client list is a who’s who of celebrity A-listers.
Musk, the brash billionaire founder of Tesla, tapped Spiro in 2022 to oversee Twitter’s legal, marketing and trust teams after buying the social media giant for $44 billion.
Since then, Spiro has continued to represent Musk in various capacities, including in a 2023 securities fraud trial on claims that Musk had misled Tesla investors. Musk was found not liable in that trial.
Spiro’s representation of Jay-Z has included defending the renowned rapper against a claim that he should’ve been on the hook for $67 million in damages over a failed cologne deal. After Spiro stepped in, Jay-Z was instead awarded $4.5 million in royalties.
Spiro’s other celebrity clients have included Rolling Stones vocalist Mick Jagger and rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Bobby Shmurda.
The lawsuit against Adams revolves around an incident that allegedly took place in 1993. Beach-Mathura claims Adams assaulted her after offering to help her get a promotion at the Transit Police Department.
The suit alleges Adams pressed her for oral sex after driving her to a vacant lot near the Hudson River. When she refused, he then forced her hand onto his genitals.
In responding to the shocking claims last month, Adams was adamant the alleged incident never took place.
“This did not happen,” he told reporters at City Hall. “It’s not who I am.”
