JPMorgan Chase lawyers put up a fight to avoid footing Charlie Javice’s $74 million legal bill. Thanks to a newly unredacted list of expenses JPMorgan lawyers filed on Monday, everyone can see why.
Javice was sentenced to more than seven years in prison in September, following a fraud conviction. In 2021, JPMorgan acquired Javice’s startup Frank, which Javice claimed assisted millions of people in completing their federal financial aid forms. On top of the $175 million JPMorgan spent on acquiring the fraudulent firm, the bank must also pay Javice’s legal fees, due to a clause in its original contract with Javice indicating it is liable for her defense bill. Javice won a ruling in 2023, requiring JPMorgan to indeed keep paying her legal tab, rejecting the bank’s assertions that her fraud was outside the bounds of their initial 2021 agreement.
Javice’s seven-figure defense bill includes $530 spent on gummy bears, a $161 seafood tower, $710 spent at Eataly, and $347 on three charcuterie boards for an “afternoon snack,” according to the filing. Also expensed were more than $3,000 in three first-class tickets between Boston and New York, $25,800 in hotel upgrades, as well as food at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, as well as $13.57 for an attorney’s monthly Spotify charge.
The total fees JPMorgan must pay now amount to more than a third of what the bank paid to acquire Frank. Even since Javice’s conviction, her defense tab keeps growing. The bank said last month that Javice has accumulated an additional $13 million in legal fees post-trial, claiming Javice and co-defendant Olivier Amar, the chief growth officer of Frank, treated the previous favorable ruling as a “blank check” to rack up expenses the bank would have to pay.
“This is the latest example of how the legal fees sought by Javice and Amar have been beyond patently excessive and egregious,” JPMorgan Chase spokesperson Pablo Rodriguez told Fortune in a statement.
Javice’s legal bill even pales in comparison to that of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who spent $30 million in her defense against fraud charges related to her healthcare company, on which she was convicted.
The most eye-popping numbers in fees aren’t for food, booze, or travel, but rather the small army that made up Javice’s legal team, which included 147 legal professionals, an average of 24 of which were present at trial on a given day. About $14 million went to Jose Baez, who was the lead defense attorney for Casey Anthony, and his firm, who represented Javice in federal court, according to JPMorgan. Quinn Emanuel, one of the (five, according to the bank) firms representing Javice, received $43 million. The law firm is known for its high-priced lawyers, including Alex Spiro, who represents high-profile clients like Elon Musk. Reuters reported in February that Spiro was one of two lawyers at the firm who charge $3,000 per hour for their legal services.
Quinn Emanuel said JPMorgan’s recent disclosure of specific charges is an effort to combat the ruling to pay Javice’s fees.
“JPMorgan is trying to walk away from its contractual obligation to pay Ms. Javice’s legal bills,” a spokesperson said in a statement to Fortune. “Now, it is attempting to manufacture distractions by highlighting a handful of attorney expenses (not incurred by Ms. Javice) over two years, the vast majority of which it already reviewed and paid or are not disputed.”
