Dame Dash Attempts to Disqualify Roc-A-Fella Attorney, Claims Lawyer's Work With JAY-Z Is Conflict of Interest
A continuation in the legal battle between between Dash and Roc-A-Fella.
As the legal battle between Dame Dash and Roc-A-Fella continue, new court documents have shown that Dash is attempting to “disqualify Roc-A-Fella’s legal counsel” Alex Spiro, who is also JAY-Z‘s personal lawyer, over a conflict of interest.
According reports, Dash claimed in court documents filed on June 25 that since Spiro is additionally currently representing Hov in shareholder governance hearings for Roc-A-Fella (RAF), his participation as Roc-A-Fella’s legal counsel is a conflict of interest. “If anyone is getting desperate or frantically making moves to try and get the interest at issue, it is Jay-Z,” the label co-founder wrote, “and, it is he who should be stopped by this Court from unlawfully using his personal counsel to file lawsuits in the name of RAF.”
A judge recently filed a temporary restraining order barring Dash from supposedly selling JAY-Z’s Reasonable Doubt as an NFT, although Dash claimed that he was trying to sell his 1/3 stake of Roc-A-Fella and not the record. Although he is not challenging the restraining order “as I do not own the copyright nor have I ever represented that I do,” he is opposing the part of the restraining order “which can be read as precluding me from disposing of my one-third interest in RAF (i.e., my shares in RAF) as there is no basis in fact, or law, to preclude me from selling [...] this property interest of which I solely own.”
Spiro responded to Dash on June 28 and asserted that “no conflict of interest exists since JAY-Z’s and Roc-A-Fella’s interests are directly aligned.” He continued, ”Dash was trying to steal RAF, Inc.’s property — to the detriment of the company and its other shareholders. Jay-Z and RAF, Inc.’s interests are therefore directly aligned.” Spiro mentioned that a conflict of interest may arise if, for example, he initially represented Dash, “Nor does Quinn Emanuel have ‘privileged information concerning the other side through prior representation.’ The firm has never represented Dash, and it has not represented RAF, Inc. in any matters through which it acquired any of Dash’s privileged information.” The lawyer also called Dash’s claim of selling his stake instead of the JAY-Z album “a lie” and that Roc-A-Fella “is not currently asking the Court to prevent Dash from selling his interest in the company; that’s a fight for another day.”
Dash’s attorney, Natraj S. Bhushan of Turturro Law, P.C., called Spiro’s filing “clearly intended to avoid the consequences of their misguided lawsuit” via an email. “There is absolutely no reason why this meritless lawsuit should continue beyond Thursday,” he continued, “so we are hopeful that the Court will take swift and appropriate actions against RAF and its counsel at Thursday’s hearing.”
Meanwhile, Spiro’s statement was simple: “Nonsense.”
In related news, JAY-Z is boasting that his “playlist game is A++” and is “willing to challenge anyone out there.”
