Eric Adams taps high-profile attorney in Elon Musk’s inner circle to defend him in sex assault suit
High-profile attorney Alex Spiro — whose clients have included Elon Musk and Jay-Z — will help defend Mayor Eric Adams against a lawsuit accusing him of sexually assaulting a co-worker more than three decades ago.
Spiro, a partner at the Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan law firm and a go-to defense attorney for the wealthy facing legal woes, was hired by the Law Department Monday to serve as co-counsel in the case brought by Lorna Beach-Mathura.
Adams has vigorously denied Beach-Mathura’s claims that he assaulted her when the two worked at the Transit Police Department in 1993, and said he did not remember ever meeting her.
Spiro, 41, has served as counsel for a number of celebs, including Alec Baldwin, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Megan Thee Stallion and Jay-Z. He is reportedly a member of Musk’s inner circle and repped the billionaire businessman in his bid to obtain and overhaul Twitter, now dubbed X.
The celebrity attorney is said to bill some of his high-end clients up to $2,000 per hour — but his law firm will charge the city $250 per hour for partners and $175 for associates, according to the Law Department.
“In certain cases, the Law Department retains outside firms to provide assistance during litigation,” said Law Department spokesperson Nicholas Paoucci. “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.”
Calls to Spiro were not returned.
The surprise move comes just weeks after Adams’ corporation counsel, Sylvia Hinds‑Radix, who will still be part of his defense team, justified taxpayers picking up the tab for the mayor, given that he was a city employee at the time of the allegations.
“The corporation counsel’s office employs some 750 attorneys to represent the city and city workers under this circumstance, so that’s how that is done,” Hinds‑Radix told reporters in City Hall on March 19.
Susan Crumiller, a New York lawyer who specializes in representing victims of sexual harassment and abuse, said that even at the discounted rate, “seven figures is a conservatve estimate” for the total tab, notiing Spiro could potentially put in hundreds of hours on Adams’ defense.
The bombshell lawsuit, filed in mid-March, alleges Adams pressured Beach-Mathura for oral sex in exchange for using his power as the leader of the Transit Bureau NYPD Guardians Association to get her a promotion.
When she refused his alleged advances, she claims, Adams put her hand on his “erect penis” before she pulled her hand away and he “ejaculated on her” while they were in a police car, according to the suit.
Beach-Mathura’s initial notice of claim was filed in November, under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, just as a window to submit old claims was set to close.
“It did not happen. I don’t recall ever meeting this person during my time in the police department,” Adams said after the graphic details emerged last month.
Hinds-Radix has called the allegations “outrageous.”
Top New York attorneys told The Post the move to hire outside counsel signaled that the Adams administration is taking the allegations “seriously” and intends to fight the case head-on.
“It does show that he wants an aggressive lawyer to try to defend this case — at the significant cost to taxpayers,” said Douglas Wigdor, who has represented victims of sexual abuse against Sean “Diddy” Combs and Harvey Weinstein.
“I think it means that he is taking it seriously,” Wigdor said.
Crumiller opined, “I think it means Eric Adams is scared and something shady is going on.”
She also questioned why taxpayers were footing the bill for the mayor’s defense, even at a reduced rate, saying she imagined the case will bring Spiro “not only publicity, but will also curry favor within the Adams administration.”
