Musk Lawyer Spiro Faces Sanctions Bid Over Deposition Conduct

Elon Musk’s high-profile lawyer should be sanctioned for trying to sabotage the billionaire’s deposition in a Texas defamation case, the man suing Musk said Monday.

Alex Spiro engaged in “astonishingly unprofessional” behavior throughout the court-ordered deposition, Ben Brody said in a court filing.

Brody is suing Musk over a tweet that he says amplified a “false flag” conspiracy theory. Social media posts falsely identified Brody as an undercover federal agent posing as a neo-Nazi street brawler, and Musk helped spread those claims, according to the lawsuit.

Spiro obstructed Musk’s March 27 video deposition in the case by frequently interrupting questions and mocking opposing counsel, Brody said through his lawyer Mark Bankston. Spiro allegedly then demanded that transcripts of the deposition not be made public.

“Spiro, a Madison Avenue celebrity lawyer, does not feel compelled to obey our rules,” Brody said in the motion, filed Monday in Texas state court. “He has seriously overstepped his bounds.”

Spiro, known for his hard-charging tactics, has become a go-to lawyer for Musk and other billionaires. He helped Musk in his $44 billion purchase of X, formerly Twitter, and successfully defended a 2019 lawsuit over a Musk tweet calling a UK man a “pedo guy.”

“This is amateur hour,” Spiro said in a statement. “I understand this lawyer wants his 15 minutes of fame, but these shakedown tactics won’t work.”

Bankston in 2022 helped the parents of a Sandy Hook victim win a $45 million judgment against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. He did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday.

Brody sued Musk in Texas last year.

He claimed that a June 2023 tweet by Musk—who has 179.9 million followers on the social media platform he now owns—endorsed the conspiracy theory that Brody was participating in a “false flag” operation engineered to discredit right-wing groups. Brody said that led to a wave of harassment against him and his family. He is seeking $1 million in damages for defamation.

Musk in January filed a motion to dismiss under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, a state free speech law. A transcript from the deposition shows Spiro dismissed Brody’s lawsuit as not a “real case.” He also accused Bankston of filing “silly frivolous shakedown” actions.

‘Shut Down’ Deposition

Musk’s March 27 deposition, which was conducted via video, came as the Texas court still weighs his motion to dismiss.

Brody’s lawyer, Bankston, claimed that Spiro signed that motion and was the only defense lawyer present at the deposition, despite not being authorized to practice in Texas. The motion noted that Musk has also been represented in the case by Quinn Emanuel’s Emiliano Delgado and John Bash, who are both admitted to practice in the state.

Spiro engaged in “abusive litigation conduct” by interrupting questions and instructing Musk not to answer relevant questions relating to the suit, Bankston said. Spiro later filed a motion to keep the deposition confidential, although he did not obtain a protective order in the case, Bankston claimed.

Spiro mocked Bankston when he raised concerns about Musk’s lawyer flouting Texas Bar rules, according to Bankston.

“Do you give these lectures at all of your depositions?” Spiro said at one point, according to a transcript of the deposition. That came after Bankston accused him of “making random statements about the alleged frivolity of a case.”

Spiro “completely shut down many segments of the deposition” effectively abusing discovery procedures, according to Bankston.

The case is Ben Brody v. Elon Musk, D. Travis County, Texas, No. D-1-GN-23-006883, 4/8/24