Jordan De Goey hires celebrity law firm in NYC assault case

A celebrity law firm whose founder has defended Harvey Weinstein and was name-checked in a Jay-Z verse has been hired by the Aussie footy star in his NYC assault case.

Jordan De Goey has hired a high-powered celebrity law firm to defend him against assault charges in New York.

Court filings in the US reveal the footy star has retained the law firm Brafman & Associates, whose founder Benjamin Brafman was name-checked in a Jay-Z song for his criminal defence skills.

The lawyer has previously represented both Hollywood sex offender Harvey Weinstein and rapper P Diddy.

Mr Brafman’s defense of P Diddy made him famous in US legal circles because he got the rapper off the hook for weapons charges related to a 1999 nightclub brawl despite the presence of dozens of witnesses.

De Goey and his mate Luke Dyson were arrested shortly before 3am on Saturday and are accused of bashing a man with a glass bottle in the face.

After the man fell to the floor with a bruised lip, the pair allegedly punched and kicked him, prosecutors told the New York Criminal Court at the weekend.

Both men were slapped with four charges each: assault, attempted assault, aggravated harassment and harassment.

Jordan De Goey is due back in court on December 8.

Shortly after their arrest, a New York Police Department spokesman told NCA NewsWire the Aussies “groped” a 35-year-old woman before the alleged bashing.

When court documents relating to that initial hearing were made available on Monday, it was revealed De Goey had turned to Brafman & Associates for his defence.

The firm’s founder was described in a 2019 Esquire magazine profile as “one of New York’s most successful criminal defence lawyers”.

He counts former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn and ”pharma bro” Martin Shkreli among his past clients.

Benjamin Brafman (right) has represented Hollywood sex offender Harvey Weinstein in court. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)

In 2002, Mr Brafman was mentioned by the rapper Jay-Z in his guest verse on Cam‘ron’s hit single “Welcome to New York City”.

“Got Brafman defending me/‘Cause New York’ll miss me if I’m locked in the penitentiary,” Jay-Z rapped.

Mr Brafman himself has not been linked to the De Goey case, but lawyers employed by his law firm have acted on behalf of the footy player, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said.

Mr Dyson retained a defence lawyer from the Legal Aid Society of New York.

Neither of the men‘s lawyers could be reached for comment.

The incident happened at a bar at the Dream Downtown hotel on 16th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighbourhood, police said.

The pair were arrested “without incident” and taken to holding cells at the Central Booking court complex in Manhattan while awaiting their arraignment, according to the NYPD.

Jay-Z has praised Mr Brafman in a song. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

After the initial court hearing both men were set free under a supervised release order, which means they will be supervised ahead of their next court date on December 8.

Mr Dyson posted a video to his Instagram story on Sunday afternoon, New York time, showing two pairs of feet dangling out the side of a helicopter hovering over Central Park.

De Goey’s AFL team Collingwood confirmed in a statement on Sunday he has been stood down indefinitely on full pay.

He is in the US as part of a special pre-season training program.

Originally published as Jordan De Goey hires celebrity law firm in NYC assault case