Who is Alex Spiro? Celeb Lawyer Who Repped Jay-Z Handling Eric Adams’ Case

The lawyer representing New York City Mayor Eric Adams on five federal charges has a history of representing high-profile clients, from Jay-Z to Alec Baldwin and many more.

Alex Spiro is serving as Adams’ attorney on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, and to receive campaign contributions by foreign nationals; wire fraud; solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national; and bribery.

“Spiro is not just about whether a jury ultimately convicts. He’s also about shaping public opinion, and I think Adams is doing his best, but I don’t think he’s going to succeed,” Zephyr Teachout, a professor at Fordham Law School specializing in white collar crime and campaign finance law, told Newsweek.

Teachout, who is also a former Democratic candidate for New York Governor and Attorney General, said Adams is using Spiro to engage with key politicians in the Democratic party.

“Adams is speaking to Governor Hochul, to Chuck Schumer, to Hakeen Jeffries, through his lawyer and trying to use his lawyer, who’s being very public right now, to sow doubts about that investigation, so that you won’t see high profile elected officials calling for him to resign,” she said.

Hochul broke her silence on Adams’ indictment on Thursday as she is faced with the decision on whether to use her power to oust him. Adams does not need to go to trial or be convicted for her to invoke this power.

“I have carefully reviewed the indictment released by the United States Department of Justice. This indictment is the latest in a disturbing pattern of events that has, understandably, contributed to a sense of unease among many New Yorkers,” Hochul said in a statement.

The statement did not give any indication as to whether or not Hochul intends to proceed with Adams’ removal.

“My focus is on protecting the people of New York and ensuring stability in the City,” Hochul said. “While I review my options and obligations as the Governor of New York, I expect the Mayor to take the next few days to review the situation and find an appropriate path forward to ensure the people of New York City are being well-served by their leaders. We must give New Yorkers confidence that there is steady, responsible leadership at every level of government.”

The prosecution of the case is being led by United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams.

“Each of these, on their own, are very powerful charges and Damian Williams has shown the receipts, quite literally, in the indictment,” Teachout said. “And they’re also very powerful combined. Jurors don’t like luxury vacations. They don’t like coverups. And when you see the combination of the campaign finance, the fraud and the bribery charges, it’s a pretty damning cocktail. I’d say that Adams is in real trouble.”

Teachout said prosecutors also face some challenges going forward.

“Corruption cases, particularly federal bribery and federal wire fraud cases, have been bedeviled with constitutional challenges in recent years,” Teachout said. “I know there’s some disagreement about this, but I think that the prosecutors were very careful in trying to avoid some of the trap doors the Supreme Court has created in wire fraud and bribery cases.”

Who is Alex Spiro?

Spiro is currently a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. He started his legal career as a prosecutor with the New York County District Attorney’s Office in 2008. During his tenure there, he helped to indict and convict Rodney Alcala, also known as the “Dating Game” serial killer, for two murders committed in the 1970s.

Spiro became a trial attorney in 2013.

In 2016, he represented former NFL player Aaron Hernandez in a double homicide trial and the appeal of a 2015 murder conviction. Hernandez, a former tight end for the New England Patriots, was found guilty of murdering Odin Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancée. He was also indicted for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.

Hernandez initially hired high profile defense lawyer Jose Baez, then Ron Sullivan, who was a mentor to Spiro during his time at Harvard Law. Baez and Sullivan decided to bring Spiro on the case.

Hernandez was acquitted on the charges related to de Abreu and Furtado. He was found dead in his cell days later.

Spiro successfully sued New York City for $4 million on behalf of Thabo Sefolosha, who was an NBA player on the Atlanta Hawks at the time. The lawsuit alleged that five police officers used excessive force when arresting Sefolosha outside of a nightclub in the city. The encounter resulted in a broken leg, which prevented him from playing the rest of the season.

Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Corey Carter, and his entertainment company, Roc Nation, asked for Spiro’s assistance following the 2019 arrest of rapper 21 Savage, whose real name is Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, on illegal immigration charges. Abraham-Joseph was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who said the rapper had been illegally in the country since his visa expired in 2006. He was born in England. Spiro helped to get the rapper released from federal custody.

Carter and Spiro also collaborated on other legal matters, including a lawsuit over a cologne deal that resulted in Carter being awarded $4.5 million in 2021.

Spiro worked with tennis player Naomi Osaka in 2019 to get a breach of contract claim from her former trained dismissed.

The lawyer has represented Elon Musk and his companies in several legal cases, including a 2023 securities fraud trial where Musk was found not liable on allegations of misleading investors. Later that year, Spiro threatened to sue Meta for the misappropriation of trade secrets and intellectual property following the launch of Threads, a competitor to Musk’s X (formerly Twitter).

Spiro defended Baldwin, who was facing a manslaughter charge after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on the set of the movie “Rust” after Baldwin fired a prop gun in 2021. In July, Spiro submitted a motion to dismiss the charge, which was granted by the judge.

YouTuber MrBeast, whose real name is James Stephen “Jimmy” Donaldson, recently hired Spiro after the online personality came under fire for several controversies. Spiro helped write a cease-and-desist letter to a former employee who accused him of staging content, illegal contests and knowingly hiring a sex offender.

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