Hulk Hogan Sues Lawyers Over $1M Bill, Says He Wasn't Told About Insurance
Updated: Wrestling star Hulk Hogan has sued two Florida attorneys, contending that they charged more than $1 million to defend his son in an auto accident case and related matters at billable hourly rates of nearly $500 without telling him his auto insurance company would have paid for legal counsel from the outset.
Partner Morris “Sandy” Weinberg Jr. and counsel Lee Fugate of Zuckerman Spaeder are the defendants in the lawsuit, filed by Hogan (whose real name is Terry Bollea) reports the Tampa Tribune.
Only after exhausting Hogan’s funding, the lawsuit contends, did the two lawyers turn to his carrier, Progressive Select Insurance Co., for payment—and were reimbursed at an hourly rate of $145, the newspaper recounts. Eventually, Progressive terminated their representation of Hogan’s son, contending, as the suit puts it, that “much of the defendants’ billings were grossly unnecessary and grossly inflated.”
Zuckerman Spaeder said in a statement (PDF) provided to the ABA Journal that the firm will “absolutely dispute and will contest the claims he has made against us.
“We did hard work for the Bolleas, and got a good result,” in both the civil case and the criminal case against Hogan’s son, Nick Bollea, the statement continues. “We had a written agreement signed by Terry Bollea and Nick Bollea that laid out our rates, and on request, we provided written estimates of the time and costs we expected to incur. Mr. Bollea paid the bills and did not raise any complaints about our representation.”
Related coverage:
St. Petersburg Times: “John Graziano leaves hospital two years after car wreck with Nick Hogan”
Updated Sept. 15 to include the Zuckerman Spaeder statement.
