Cosby: Schnader Billed Six-Figure Fees for 'Unnecessary' Work
Facing a claim for $282,000 in allegedly unpaid fees from his criminal case, Bill Cosby countered that the work was never authorized.
October 26, 2018 at 02:51 PM
4 minute read
Bill Cosby arrives for his sentencing hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse, Sept. 25, 2018, in Norristown. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
In a dispute with a Philadelphia law firm stemming from his criminal case, Bill Cosby is claiming that he did not authorize the amount of legal work for which his former local counsel demanded fees.
In an answer filed Wednesday, Cosby said he did not breach his contract with Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis. The firm has sued Cosby for more than $282,000 in legal fees.
Cosby admitted to paying more than $44,000 for some of the work performed by Schnader partner Sam Silver. But after that, the filing said, “It is however expressly denied that plaintiff was entitled to subsequent payment for the alleged performance of legal work that was unauthorized or redundant legal work completed by lead counsel Thomas Mesereau or his team.”
Mesereau was admitted pro hac vice to lead Cosby's criminal defense ahead of his retrial, which took place in 2018 in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. Silver was local counsel, entering his appearance in the criminal case in August 2017, until he withdrew in January.
Specifically, Cosby contends in his answer that neither Mesereau nor Cosby directed Silver to perform $183,000 of legal work in early 2018.
“As counsel of record plaintiff could not and did not reasonably provide legal services totaling $183,000 over the course of two months,” his answer said. “Upon information and belief, any alleged legal work performed was unnecessary, duplicative of work performed by lead counsel, inflated and therefore unauthorized and inappropriate.”
According to Schnader's complaint, Cosby signed an engagement letter with the firm in March 2016, just a few months after the criminal charges against Cosby were filed in Montgomery County. Cosby paid for work completed through the end of June 2017, the complaint said, but has not paid any of the firm's invoices submitted between August 2017 and July 25 of this year.
Silver continued to represent Cosby leading up to the comedian's April 2018 criminal proceedings, the complaint said, despite not receiving payments from Cosby. His firm billed about $183,000 in December 2017 and January 2018 alone, it said, and withdrew from the case in late January.
Schnader filed the case in Montgomery County in September, but it was removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In his answer, Cosby contends that he is a citizen of Massachusetts rather than Pennsylvania. Although he is currently residing in state prison in Pennsylvania, after being sentenced last month to three to 10 years in prison for aggravated indecent assault.
In a statement Friday, Schnader said, “We're disappointed and surprised to see that the new lawyers for a client on whose behalf we worked very hard would file such a baseless pleading.”
Central Pennsylvania-based lawyers Vincent Champion and Kayla Rost of Champion Law Office are now representing Cosby in the fee dispute.
In the criminal case, in which Cosby is pursuing an appeal, Harrisburg lawyers Brian Perry and Kristen Weisenberger entered their appearance earlier this month. Joseph P. Green and Peter Goldberger, who represented Cosby at sentencing, withdrew from the criminal case.
READ MORE:
To Avoid Fee Disputes, Don't Fear the 'Sticker Shock'
More Bad News for Bill Cosby: Law Firm Sues for More Than $282K in Legal Fees
Bill Cosby Swaps Defense Lawyers Again for Criminal Appeal, Legal Fee Suit
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