Photo Credit: Tony Buzbee Instagram
Texas attorney Tony Buzbee has withdrawn from more than a dozen lawsuits he filed against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. He blames a grievance that Jay-Z filed against him for being unable to continue.
Buzbee withdrew as the plaintiff attorney in 14 lawsuits filed against Combs in a New York federal court. Court documents show that Buzbee is not permitted to practice law in the Southern District of New York. Buzbee blames a grievance that Jay-Z filed against him saying it is an attempt to prevent him from being admitted to try SDNY cases.
Documents from the Committee on Grievances in the SDNY show that Buzbee filed for admission to practice in the court on January 29. That filing comes several months after he filed a spate of lawsuits in court. “Per the Committee’s review of the dockets, Mr. Buzbee has appeared in cases in this court without seeking admission. Therefore, the petition is denied,” the Committee Chair writes.
U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams advised Buzbee that he was in violation of a local rule of the court due to his admission status. Abrams says Buzbee failed to bring the issue to the courts attention and asked for an explanation. In a letter penned on Monday, Buzbee attributes it to an “error in judgement” for “failing to inform” the judges he was not admitted to practice in SDNY.
“As an attorney in good standing of the New York State Bar, the Texas State Bar, and your sister district, the Bar for Eastern District of the State of New York, I believe I am eminently qualified and should not be precluded from representing the Plaintiff in this action,” Buzbee writes. Instead, he says the status of his admission has “become a distraction that has shifted the focus of the matter away from where it should be, which is securing justice for the Plaintiff.”
The unnamed Plaintiff in these lawsuits will continue to be represented by the New York law firm with which he co-filed the lawsuit. Buzbee says he believes the focus shift is due to Jay-Z’s grievance filed against him.
“The individual I was bringing a suit against, Shawn Carter, filed a grievance against me trying to keep me from receiving admission—a formality. So I have to deal with that before I receive formal admission.” Buzbee says out of the multiple lawyers handling the case, he was singled out and had a grievance filed against him. Last month, another client of Buzbee’s dropped her sexual assault lawsuit.
“The primary factor underlying both the grievance and the Southern District’s admission decision is that I electronically signed numerous pleadings alongside my firm’s local counsel (who is admitted to the SNDY and who actually filed all pleadings and other papers),” Buzbee writes in an affidavit to defend himself against the grievance and appeal the SDNY’s admissions decision.
Diddy’s attorneys write that they have never opposed a pro hac vice application for a lawyer to represent their clients—but that Buzbee’s “egregious misconduct warrants a denial of the privilege of appearing in the District.”
