Houston attorney Tony Buzbee is once again suing Jay Z’s Roc Nation, alleging that the entertainment company and others encouraged one of his former clients to sue The Buzbee Law Firm in exchange for lucrative gain.
Filed last week in the Harris County district court, the suit claims Roc Nation financed efforts by attorney Marcy Croft and law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, to persuade Buzbee’s former client Jose Maldonado to sue him in exchange for money.
The Quinn Emanuel law firm is representing Jay Z, formally known as Shawn Carter, in a lawsuit filed by Buzbee in October. Croft, a Mississippi-based attorney, has represented Roc Nation in previous lawsuits regarding prison reform, according to court records.
“Rather than focus on suits by former clients for allegations of misconduct, Tony Buzbee is trying to distract with nonsense lawsuits — which of course Roc Nation has nothing to do with,” a Roc Nation spokesperson said in a statement. “Buzbee will have to answer for his failure to vet his Jane Doe plaintiff, while submitting her demonstrably false story to a court where he hasn’t even been admitted to practice, and subjecting the world to an NBC News interview disaster. The lies on the court will not survive scrutiny.”
“On behalf of Defendant Marcy Croft, two individuals attempted to call Plaintiff (Maldonado) many times,” the lawsuit reads.”They then went to what they believed was Plaintiff’s home. They actually went to his father’s home. They identified themselves as federal officers. When they realized they had the wrong house, they continued to contact Plaintiff. They were pushy.”
Buzbee filed a similar lawsuit last month against Roc Nation for allegedly conspiring with and paying former clients to sue him. The Houston attorney is currently representing over 100 clients who claim Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sexually abused them. Buzbee said the efforts by Roc Nation are an attempt to intimidate him and his firm to not pursue cases against Combs.
See here, here, here, and here for the background. I have to wonder, when Tony Buzbee – who has plenty of other litigation to manage – filed that initial suit against Sean Combs, did he expect this kind of response? Was he aware of his potential exposure, or is this all penny ante stuff that any longtime high-profile lawyer might have faced? I have no idea, and maybe it doesn’t matter anyway. He sure likes being busy and being a main character, and he’s got that in plentiful supply here.