Hulk Hogan files lawsuit over legal fees in suit over son's wreck

Hulk Hogan filed a lawsuit today against two of his many attorneys, claiming they wrongly charged him more than $1 million in legal fees to defend him in a civil suit spurred by the wreck that left John Graziano in a semi-conscious state.

Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, says he could have been represented for no money by his insurance company, Progressive Select Insurance Co. But, he says in the 44-page lawsuit, he never received letters sent by Progressive and the attorney the insurance company had appointed telling him as much.

The lawyers Hogan is suing are Morris "Sandy" Weinberg Jr. and Lee Fugate. Weinberg is a partner in the firm Zuckerman Spaeder, and Fugate works there.

The firm released a statement calling Hogan's claims "baseless" and said it intends to fight Hogan's allegations in court.

"We had a written agreement signed by Terry Bollea and [his son] Nick Bollea that laid out our rates, and on request, we provided written estimates of the time and costs we expected to incur," the statement says. "Mr. Bollea paid the bills and did not raise any complaints about our representation."

The statement also notes that Nick Bollea is not suing the firm, just Hogan.

One of the firm's accomplishments, according to the statement, is its work helping defend Nick Bollea, who was accused of reckless driving involving serious bodily injury. Though Nick Bollea was sentenced to eight months in jail, adjudication of guilt was withheld, meaning he is not a convicted felon.

On Aug. 26, 2007, Nick Bollea wrecked a 1998 Toyota Supra, grievously injuring his sole passenger, Graziano, an Iraq war veteran.

At the time, the Supra was insured by Progressive, with bodily injury liability limits of $250,000 per person, and total limits of $500,000 for a particular incident. As part of the policy, Progressive was to defend Bollea against any civil claim arising from a car accident.

"It is common knowledge throughout the legal profession experienced in such matters, especially in the area of insurance defense litigation and personal injury law, that automobile insurance policies include the aforementioned duty to defend the insured, as well as any permissive user, should a civil suit arise or the possibility of a civil claim exist," the lawsuit says.

Three days after the wreck, Progressive sent a letter to Hogan's business manager, Lewis, Birch and Ricardo, telling the firm an attorney named Bryan Reynolds was being retained by Progressive to defend Bollea in the event of a lawsuit.

Hogan said he never got that letter, or one from Reynolds to his financial manager asking for an immediate meeting, the lawsuit says. Reynolds also sent a letter to Kevin Hayslett, the Clearwater attorney who was leading the effort to defend Nick Bollea against criminal charges, but Hogan says Hayslett didn't give him a copy of the letter, either.

Hogan also says the letters were forwarded by his financial manager to the office of Tampa attorney Barry Cohen, who was then representing Nick Bollea with Hayslett, the lawsuit says. Cohen eventually was dropped from the defense team.

Slightly more than two weeks after the accident, around Sept. 14, 2007, Hogan consulted with Weinberg and Fugate about both defending Nick Bollea against criminal charges and defending Hogan against an imminent civil lawsuit.

On Sept. 20, another letter from Progressive was sent to Hogan's financial manager, and the letter was emailed to Weinberg and Fugate, the lawsuit says. But the defense attorneys never told Hogan about the letter, Hogan says. They should have known Progressive would pick up the tab for defending him against civil litigation, Hogan says, and they should have told him so.

Hogan says the two lawyers are also not board certified and they have little, if any, expertise in personal injury cases emanating from serious car wrecks.

Soon, Weinberg and Fugate agreed to represent Hogan, with an initial deposit and retainer totaling $300,000, the lawsuit says. Weinberg's per-hour rate was $550 an hour, Fugate's $475 an hour. Among other things, Hogan says he wasn't told that hours could be billed for the work done by paralegals.

On Oct. 3, 2007, Reynolds, the attorney appointed by Progressive, sent a letter to Hayslett to discuss the imminent civil action, and Hayslett forwarded it to Weinberg and Fugate, the lawsuit says. The two lawyers never told Hogan about it, Hogan says.

Then, on Oct. 8, 2007, Reynolds had a telephone conversation with Weinberg. Weinberg reportedly said that he and Fugate were "coordinating" the criminal and civil cases, but Weinberg didn't tell Hogan about the conversation, Hogan says in the lawsuit. Reynolds was left with the impression he was defending Hogan and Nick Bollea in the civil matter, even though Weinberg repeatedly stopped him from speaking with Hogan, the lawsuit says.

In December, Weinberg and Fugate said their fees for the combined civil and criminal matters would come to $110,000 for December and $120,000 for January, the lawsuit says. Plus they would need $44,000 for experts.

On Dec. 14, 2007, Weinberg contacted Progressive asking to be allowed to replace Reynolds and defend the Bolleas. Weinberg said Hogan was not interested in any other attorneys defending him. Progressive entered into an agreement with the two attorneys, approving them as the lawyers defending Hogan in the civil suit. They would be paid $145 an hour.

However, Weinberg and Fugate continued to bill Hogan at their higher per-hour rates.

The legal fees become so exorbitant that on July 28, 2008, one of Hogan's divorce attorneys told him his then estranged wife was alleging they constituted a waste of marital assets. The attorney told Fugate he might have to testify.

By the fall of 2008, Hogan couldn't afford Weinberg's and Fugate's representation anymore. He had paid - or been billed - more than $1 million, and the two attorneys continued charging him, the lawsuit says. They eventually told him he needed to reimburse him $444,000.

Not until Hogan told them he was out of money did they begin seeking reimbursement from Progressive at the $145 hourly rate. They reached a settlement with Progressive in which they were to receive $350,000, and then Progressive told them they were no longer representing Hogan on the grounds that "much of the Defendants' billings were grossly unnecessary and grossly inflated," the lawsuit says.

Progressive then offered to appoint another attorney to defend Hogan free of charge, the lawsuit says. That lawyer is Jeff Winkler.

Then Weinberg told Progressive there were still outstanding bills to the tune of more than $20,000, and Progressive paid those.

Weinberg and Fugate still wanted to defend Hogan in a separate matter, this one involving the release of audiotapes made while Nick was serving an eight-month sentence in the Pinellas County Jail that was meted out as a result of the wreck. Nick Bollea claimed in a lawsuit that releasing the tapes violated his privacy, and the matter is still making its way through the civil arena.

Hogan was not interested.

Here are the amounts Weinberg and Fugate received from Hogan, according to the lawsuit.

September 2007: $300,000.

January 2008: $175,000.

February 2008: 112,800.

March 2008: $27,100.

April 2008: $39,000.

June 2008: $60,100.

August 2008: $200,000.

September 2008: $23,000.

October 2008: $150,000.

November 2008: $50,000.

December 2008: $350,000.

February 2009: $20,000.

March 2009: $64,500.

The total is roughly $1.57 million.