Alex Spiro

Alexander Benjamin Spiro (born December 12, 1982) is an American trial lawyer. He is currently a partner at the New York Office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

Alex Spiro
Born (1982-12-12) December 12, 1982
New York, New York, U.S.
Alma materTufts University (B.A.)
Harvard Law School (J.D.)
OccupationLawyer
WebsiteAlex Spiro

Early life and education

Spiro was born in New York, and grew up in Boston. His father suffered from multiple sclerosis.

Spiro studied bio-psychology at Tufts University.[1] He also worked at McLean Hospital, Harvard's Psychiatric Hospital, in Belmont, MA, supervising units of an adolescent treatment facility and running a program for children with autism spectrum disorders.[2]

Spiro attended Harvard Law School where he won Boston's ACC Northeast Ethical Lawyering award. In 2008, Spiro received his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Career

Prosecution

Spiro worked at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office as an Assistant District Attorney until 2013. He prosecuted Rodney Alcala, known as “The Dating Game Killer," for two New York murders in the 1970s.[3]

Notable cases

In 2013, Spiro moved to a New York criminal defense firm run by Benjamin Brafman, known for their high-profile clientele.

Spiro has represented artists like Mick Jagger, Jay-Z,[4][5][6][7] and Bobby Shmurda, as well as athletes such as Thabo Sefolosha, Pero Antić, Chris Copeland, Ben Gordon, DeMarcus Cousins, Matt Barnes, Charles Oakley, Aaron Hernandez, Julian Edelman, Jay Bromley, J. R. Smith, and Lorenzo Mauldin.[8][9]

He also led investigations and litigation involving Robert Durst, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and L'Wren Scott (Mick Jagger's girlfriend), and defended Thomas Gilbert Jr., who was accused of killing his father.[10]

Along with William A. Burck and Jeffrey Goldberger, Spiro is part of the legal "dream team" assembled by Robert Kraft defending misdemeanor charges of solicitation.[11] The defense team in the Kraft case successfully argued that video evidence was obtained improperly and the Judge in the case ultimately ruled that the evidence was inadmissible and it was thrown out.

In 2019, Spiro defended Elon Musk in a publicized defamation case raised by Vernon Unsworth from statements made relating to their involvement in the Tham Luang cave rescue. The court ultimately found Musk not liable. The same year, he succeeded in getting a dismissal of a breach of contract and unjust enrichment claim brought by a former trainer of tennis star Naomi Osaka.[12]

Civil Rights Cases

Spiro is part of several civil rights causes and cases. He is the chair of the Fair Punishment Project, of the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School.

Spiro and a coalition of hip-hop greats including Killer Mike, Meek Mill, Yo Gotti and Chance the Rapper sent a brief to the United States Supreme Court, detailing the ways rap music is stigmatized and stereotyped by the legal system. The brief was filed by trial lawyer Alex Spiro, a partner at New York City-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP. “We were simply trying to illustrate that hip-hop has been the greatest music movement of the 21st century, and has inspired a lot of people,” Spiro says. “The lyrics could be exactly the same in a rock song as in a rap song, but it can be interpreted differently and criminalized.” [13]

Alex Spiro took over the case of Pedro Hernandez, a teenager who was arrested in connection with a September 2015 shooting. According to a private investigator the family hired, there was evidence that proved investigators in the 42nd Precinct and a Bronx prosecutor coerced young men to sign false complaints against Hernandez.[14]

In 2016, Spiro filed a lawsuit against the University of Oregon on behalf of two basketball players who were expelled after being accused of sexually assaulting a freshman at an off-campus party in 2014. Investigators concluded the rape allegation was false and the intercourse was consensual, but the University, nevertheless, proceeded with an expulsion hearing. The lawsuit alleged that Oregon investigators were biased against the expelled students and asked for damages in the amount of $10 million for each player.[15]

In 2017, Spiro won a lawsuit against New York City, which agreed to pay $4 million to Thabo Sefolosha, a forward with the N.B.A.’s Atlanta Hawks. In the federal lawsuit he accused five police officers of false arrest and using excessive force during an encounter outside a Manhattan nightclub.[16]

In February 2019, Spiro was asked by Jay-Z and Roc Nation[17] to help with the Immigration Arrest of rapper/songwriter 21 Savage, resulting in the rapper's release from federal custody.[18]

In May 2020, Roc Nation attorney Alex Spiro filed a new lawsuit against the health care providers for inmates at Mississippi prisons. This lawsuit comes after Jay-Z's Roc Nation filed their own lawsuit on behalf of a group of inmates. Spiro's client saw the footage of 40 inmates dying in prison that leaked onto the Internet. The shareholder's basis for his lawsuit is that he believes Centurion's poor healthcare standards for the inmates are making the company vulnerable to lawsuits and the possibility of dropping their stock. The shareholder called out the poor treatment of inmates from their mental health to getting tested for the illness. The lawsuit accuses them of an "entire breakdown in [Mississippi prisons'] healthcare system." [19]

Trial verdicts

Spiro secured acquittals in a number of cases including the cases of Thabo Sefolosha[20] and several Wall Street traders.[21] Spiro was part of Aaron Hernandez's trial team.[22]

Business ventures

Spiro is a board member of Glassbridge Enterprises, an American Holding company that focuses on investment, asset management, and enterprise data storage. He was named Director and Board Member of Evine, which is a multi-platform interactive digital company.

Spiro also sits on the Board of Directors for Arrive, a private equity joint venture with Glassbridge Enterprises and was launched in 2017 in collaboration with Primary Venture Partners and Roc Nation.

gollark: I like the idea of a player-driven "ecology", which the ratios are *not*.
gollark: I don't.
gollark: (as in, sell eggs to other players directly at user-set prices)
gollark: Sane ecological simulations which take into account different biomes and the fact that there being lots of a breed and little of another won't magically make dragons breed differently, and a player-based market where you can sell eggs for shards.
gollark: You know what would be *really* cool?

References
  1. Correspondent, Tim Whelan Jr./Daily News. "The Beat: Wellesley-bred lawyer Alex Spiro a matchup nightmare on the court and in the courtroom". MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  2. "Basketball Stars' Go-To Guy - Harvard Law Today". Harvard Law Today. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  3. "He Who Would Defend Shmurda". The Ringer. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  4. Young, Vicki M. (2018-05-08). "Court Orders Jay Z to Testify in SEC Deposition". WWD. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  5. "Jay-Z lawyer: Securities and Investigation Commission subpoena may be a 'celebrity hunt'". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  6. "Jay Z's Lawyer Calls SEC's Demands to Meet Him 'In Person for an Unlimited Period of Time' a 'Celebrity Hunt'". Complex. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  7. Reuters. "Jay-Z ordered to testify next week in US SEC investigation". Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  8. Jacobs, Shayna. "High-profile defense lawyer who represented Charles Oakley, Lorenzo Mauldin moves to international firm  - NY Daily News". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  9. Fanelli, James. "JAY-Z is a no-show for Manhattan hearing in SEC investigation". NY Daily News. nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  10. Jacobs, Shayna. "Psychologist who found accused dad killer Thomas Gilbert Jr. fit to stand trial ignored years of troubling history: lawyer". NY Daily News. nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
  11. Francescani, Chris (March 10, 2019). "Patriots' owner Robert Kraft has assembled a legal dream team to handle his misdemeanor sex solicitation case; can they save him?". ABC News. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  12. September 13, Zach Schlein |; PM, 2019 at 04:56. "Dismissed: Broward Judge Swats Trainer's Lawsuit Against Tennis Star Naomi Osaka". Daily Business Review. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  13. https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/legal-and-management/9326984/spotlight-alex-spiro-hip-hop-criminal-justice-reform-attorney. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. Rivlin-Nadler, Max (2018-05-09). "Lawyer for Pedro Hernandez Says Bronx DA's Office Is Still Withholding Key Evidence". Medium. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
  15. KVAL. "Ex-UO basketball players accused of rape file lawsuit against university". KVAL. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  16. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/nyregion/thabo-sefolosha-ny-atlanta-false-arrest-suit.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. "Attorney Alex Spiro Explains How JAY-Z and Roc Nation Will Fight For 21 Savage". Complex. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  18. Stack, Liam (2019-02-12). "21 Savage to Be Released From ICE Custody, His Lawyers Say". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  19. https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/roc-nation-attorney-sues-mississippi-prison-health-care-provider-news.111256.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. Patrice, Joe. "Quinn Emanuel Pulls Off Coup With Big-Time Criminal Defense Hire". Above the Law. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  21. "Bond-Trader Crackdown Stalls, But Wall Street May Never Be Same". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  22. "A. Hernandez hires Casey Anthony lawyer, others". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
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