Attorneys representing Rudy Giuliani in his massive defamation claim case are asking a judge for permission to drop him as a client.
According to CNN, the document filed in Manhattan federal court is heavily redacted, but lawyers Kenneth Caruso and David Labkowski cited three ethics rules for wanting off the case.
The rules include, “the client insists upon taking action with which the lawyer has a fundamental disagreement,” and “the client insists upon presenting a claim or defense that is not warranted under existing law.”
The third ethics rule that lawyers cited in the filing was “the client fails to cooperate in the representation or otherwise renders the representation unreasonably difficult for the lawyer to carry out employment effectively.”
Last month, US District Judge Lewis Liman ordered Giuliani to turn over all his valuable possessions to Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, to cover the $148 million judgement he was ordered to pay for defaming them after the 2020 presidential election.
At a hearing last week, Liman threatened to hold Giuliani in contempt over his “farcical” explanation of why he hasn’t complied with a court order to turn over his possessions to the election workers.
At the hearing, Giuliani repeatedly whispered directions to Caruso, occasionally contradicting him, according to CNN. The former New York City mayor’s attorney failed to convince the judge to allow their client to hold on to his 1980 Mercedes-Benz convertible and a watch from Giuliani’s grandfather.
The lawyers’ request to be removed from the case comes days before Giuliani is ordered to turn over his valuables, including shares in his Upper East Side co-op apartment, valuable sports memorabilia, his Mercedes-Benz convertible, and luxury watches on Friday.
