Judge in Trump Fraud Case Pursues Giuliani for Unpaid Legal Fees

After facing a lawsuit from his own lawyer and that attorney’s previous firm for over $1.3 million in unpaid legal fees, Rudy Giuliani suffered a significant defeat at the hands of the judge who had presided over Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial. This judge dismissed Giuliani’s claims of ignorance regarding the outstanding bills and the recipients.

New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron granted a summary judgment on Tuesday in favor of Robert Costello, as outlined in a four-page decision. This judgment utilized Giuliani’s checks, a text, and emails to show that he was aware of the fees charged by Costello and Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP (DHC) for legal services.

In November 2019, Giuliani retained Costello, formerly a DHC partner, as his legal representative. This arrangement was formalized with a signed agreement, backed by public records from that period when Giuliani was under investigation by his prior office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

Legal filings reveal that Costello’s representation of Giuliani extended into 2023, covering “all civil cases and criminal investigations,” such as the SDNY probe, the Georgia RICO case,  January 6 issues, and disciplinary actions leading to Giuliani’s disbarment on two occasions.

But in 2023, Costello and the firm sued, claiming that Giuliani owed more than $1.3 million in legal fees.

“This lawsuit seeks payment for an unsettled legal bill amounting to $1,360,196.10 for services provided by the Plaintiffs,” as detailed in the complaint, with only “$214,000 from the entire bill” having been settled. The document noted that Giuliani “never disputed the validity of the invoices, the charges, or their issuance by DHC” from 2019 to 2023.

At the time, Giuliani said Costello and DHC’s suit “personally hurt” him, and that the bill was clearly excessive.

“It’s a real shame when lawyers do things like this, and all I will say is that their bill is way in excess to anything approaching legitimate fees,” Giuliani said previously.

On Tuesday, Engoron noted that Giuliani attempted to make the case that when he signed an agreement to have Costello represent him that agreement made no mention of DHC and, in any event, he “did not receive any bills or invoices on a monthly basis[.]” The judge, who memorably issued a massive civil fraud judgment against Trump only to be overturned last month as to the amount, just as quickly pointed out that Costello sent Giuliani a text message in 2023 specifying how much he owed DHC and that Giuliani “merely replied” with “Any news?” rather than “claiming that he did not receive bills or questioning the amount[.]”

A court exhibit shows Robert Costello’s 2023 texts to Rudy Giuliani about legal bills.

Even “more tellingly,” Engoron continued, checks Giuliani cut “reference[d] his DHC file number” and an “invoice number.”

In the end, Engoron, misspelling Giuliani’s first name as “Rudolf,” sided with the law firm and Costello.

“The motion for summary judgment is granted to the extent that the clerk is hereby directed to enter judgment in favor of plaintiff Davidoff, Hutcher & Citron and against defendant, Rudolf W. Giuliani, in the amount of $1,360,190.10, plus interest from October 18, 2023 (one month after plaintiffs commenced suit) on plaintiffs’ account state claim, and summary judgment on DHC’s claim for legal fees for making the instant motion,” the judge concluded.

Reacting to the ruling on Giuliani’s behalf, Giuliani spokesman Ted Goodman asserted the decision was clearly political, considering the judge behind it.

“The idea that Judge Arthur Engoron is permitted to sit on a case involving President Donald Trump’s good friend and former personal lawyer, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, flies in the face of justice and demonstrates the partisan political nature of this decision,” Goodman reportedly said.