Mayor Eric Adams, facing corruption and bribery charges, has hired a celebrity lawyer known for being the go-to for well-known clients involved in high-profile cases.
Alex Spiro is representing Adams in a shocking political case that has turned City Hall upside down.
"Federal agents appeared this morning at Gracie Mansion in an effort to create a spectacle (again) and take Mayor Adams' phone (again). He has not been arrested and looks forward to his day in court," Spiro said Thursday. "They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in."
The mayor's personal attorney stood alongside Eric Adams as he sought to discredit the charges against the first-term mayor.
Aside from representing Adams, Spiro, who is based in New York, has solidified his law career representing big-name clients including Alec Baldwin, Elon Musk, Megan Thee Stallion, Jay-Z, Mick Jagger, Thabo Sefolosha, Robert Kraft, Julian Edelman and Aaron Hernandez.
So what else do we know about him?
Alex Spiro's impressive resume
Spiro has deep ties to New England, having graduated from Wellesley High School in 2001, according to NBC Boston. He graduated from Tufts University and then went on to Harvard Law School (2008).
According to his biography on Quinn Emanuel firm's website, Spiro studied bio-psychology and worked at Harvard's Psychiatric Facility, McLean Hospital, where he supervised departments of an adolescent treatment facility and ran a program for children with autism and Asperger's.
After obtaining his law degree, Spiro served as a Manhattan prosecutor for a time.
As a partner at Quinn Emanuel's New York office, Spiro is co-chair of the Investigations, Government Enforcement & White Collar Defense Practice where he focuses on "white collar" crimes.
Spiro has also been part of the faculty at his alma mater by taking part in Harvard's Trial Advocacy Program. He has lectured at Harvard Law School and has served as Chairman of the Board of Harvard's criminal justice initiative known as The Fair Punishment Project. He also serves as counsel to the Reform Alliance.
What are some other high-profile cases Spiro has taken on?
As a Manhattan prosecutor, he was attached to numerous high-profile cases, obtaining a conviction against Rodney Alcala, who was also known as the "Dating Game" serial killer stemming from murders that took place in the 1970s, according to his biography. He also got serial murderer Travis Woods convicted and was part of the Conviction Integrity Unit, which focused on investigating wrongful convictions.
Subsequently, his resume has led Spiro to represent a number of celebrities. Here are some of the cases:
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Spiro has a long history representing members of the New England Patriots team, according to NBC Boston.
He was hired by Julian Edelman when Edelman appealed his four-game suspension in 2018. Most noteworthy is that Spiro was also a member of Aaron Hernandez's defense team in Hernandez's double-homicide trial.
He was also hired by Patriots owner Robert Kraft in 2019 as he faced charges of soliciting prostitution in Florida.
FORMER NBA PLAYER THABO SEFOLOSHA
Spiro also represented former Bulls, Hawks, Jazz and Rockets basketball player Thabo Sefolosha, who was found not guilty of misdemeanor obstructing government administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest stemming from an incident with police outside a New York City nightclub in 2015. Sefolosha eventually received $4 million from New York City in a settlement related to the incident.
JAY-Z AND 21 SAVAGE
In 2019, rapper and mogul Jay-Z hired Spiro to aid fellow rapper 21 Savage in his fight against deportation.
ALEC BALDWIN
Most recently, Spiro represented actor Alec Baldwin in his involuntary manslaughter case pertaining to the fatal "Rust" set shooting. (The involuntary manslaughter charge was eventually dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once appeals are exhausted.)
MEGAN THEE STALLION
Spiro was the lawyer superstar Megan Thee Stallion asked to represent her when she was accused of harassment by a cameraman who said he was forced to watch her have sex with another woman earlier this year.
Emilio Garcia said in the lawsuit filed in April in Los Angeles County Superior Court that after the alleged incident he was warned, "Don't ever discuss what you saw," and was berated, fat-shamed and treated differently by Megan, according to NBCNews.com.
ELON MUSK
Spiro has long been seen as a right-hand man and confidant to Elon Musk.
He apparently led the first round of mass layoffs when Musk bought Twitter back in 2022, according to an NBCNews.com article.
Recently, when the Securities and Exchange Commission asked a federal judge to sanction Musk if he continues to violate the court's order to appear for a deposition in a probe of his 2022 Twitter acquisition, Spiro wrote a response.
He said "such drastic action would be inappropriate," adding that both the SEC and the Tesla founder had agreed rescheduling would be allowed in light of an emergency, according to a CNBC article.
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