50 Cent has been racking up a lot of legal victories as of late, but the G-Unit mogul has just suffered a rare legal setback.
According to Reuters, the $32million legal malpractice lawsuit that the rapper (real name Curtis Jackson) brought against his former attorneys at Reed Smith — and the lead legal counsel, Peter Raymond, who is no longer with the firm — cannot be re-brought, and a bankruptcy judge’s previous ruling to toss the case must stand.
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That’s the ruling that was handed down by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant on Friday (June 30), who made the ruling in New Haven, CT.
50 Cent claimed that the lawyers at Reed Smith gave him an “uninformed” legal strategy, and that they once represented Rick Ross, a one-time rival of Fif’s. This representation caused the G-Unit founder to reportedly suffer a legal setback in the form of a judgment for $7million, but Judge Bryant dismissed the claim because Fif couldn’t be more specific as to how these “conflicts” led to this $7million judgment against him.
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“Without more, the court cannot conclude the conflict of interest impacted counsel’s discovery strategy, or that the conflict caused Jackson to lose at trial,” Bryant said, according to Reuters.
The origins of this acrimony go all the way back to 2015, when Ross’ ex-girlfriend (and the mother of one of his children) Lastonia Leviston filed a lawsuit against 50 Cent for posting a sex tape of her without her permission. Ultimately, Leviston won a $7million judgment against the “Back Down” rapper.
Three days after the $7million judgment was rendered against him, 50 Cent filed for bankruptcy. After the Chapter 11 filing, Reed Smith filed a claim for over $600,000 in legal fees, which prompted the malpractice lawsuit from Fif.
In his complaint, 50 claimed that the parties mentioned were “neglectful, negligent and unethical.” He also took a shot at his former legal reps’ “legal standards” and “lack of effective representation.”
“Reed Smith and Raymond did not follow established legal standards in representing Jackson in the Leviston Case by failing to provide effective representation and conduct proper pre-trial and trial preparation prior to the Leviston trial,” the complaint read. “In addition, their lack of effective representation and inadequate pre-trial preparation and preparation for trial caused Jackson to retain new counsel on the eve of trial.”
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The complaint also makes note of an alleged conflict of interest between Reed Smith and key material witnesses (which, as it was later revealed, turned out to be Rick Ross), which contributed to “an unfavorable jury verdict.”
50 Cent sought $7million in actual damages (the amount of the Leviston judgment) and $25million in punitive damages.
