Zayat's attorney asks to be withdrawn from representation in bankruptcy case

The law firm representing Ahmed Zayat in his bankruptcy proceeding and a civil action brought by his primary lender has asked the court to authorize the severance of its relationship with Zayat, contending that he owes $368,000 in legal fees to the firm.

Jay L. Lubetkin, a partner with the law firm Rabinowitz, Lubetkin, and Tully, requested the severance in a filing on Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. In the filing, Lubetkin said that Zayat has not made any payments to the firm since May 5, 2021, after the firm and Zayat reached an agreement for a $50,000 minimum payment each month. The filing said that the “outstanding receivable currently due” is $368,273.

Lubetkin said in the filing that he had attempted to contact Zayat nine times in July to “communicate with the debtor regarding status of payments to our firm, without substantive or satisfactory response.” Lubetkin also said that Zayat had contacted the firm on July 21 to advise that it was “no longer defending” him.

“The debtor has been consistently advised that absent satisfactory arrangements for the payment of the outstanding fees and expenses due our firm and newly incurred billing, the firm would have no alternative but to seek to withdraw from the representation of the debtor,” the filing states.

Zayat did not respond to a message left on his cell phone on Wednesday.

Zayat was sued for $23 million by his main lender, MGG Investment Group, in January, 2020, after MGG stated that he had defaulted on his loans and concealed transactions from the company. Shortly after the suit was filed, a judge put Zayat’s assets in receivership.

Zayat filed for bankruptcy in the fall of 2020. It was the second time that the prominent horse owner had filed for bankruptcy, following a similar maneuver in 2010 after he was sued by his lender at that time, Fifth Third Bank.

Lubetkin said in the filing that “based on the approximate one-year relationship I have had with the bettor, I know the debtor to be an extremely intelligent individual who fully understands the Chapter 7 bankruptcy process.” Lubetkin added that he believed Zayat “is fully capable of representing himself in his main bankruptcy case and in the adversary proceeding.”

Among Zayat's prominent horses is American Pharoah, who is scheduled to be inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame next week in Saratoga Springs.