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The lawyers who had been representing Tal and Oren Alexander in a lawsuit with Side have cut their ties with the brothers after they failed to pay outstanding balances for the lawyers’ services, court documents show.
In court filings submitted Wednesday, Michael Betz of Allen Matkins has been listed as “terminated” in the case docket after filing a motion to withdraw from the case at the end of January, HousingWire reported.
Betz and Grayson (Trey) Marshall III asked to withdraw from the case because the brothers “failed to meet their financial obligations under an Engagement for Legal Services,” the motion states.
Betz and Marshall said the Alexanders failed to pay invoices from Dec. 3, 2024, as well as several subsequent invoices sent throughout the month of January, despite written notice sent through letters or emails.
The lawyers also said that the brothers’ incarceration made it difficult to receive information from them, making representation “unreasonably difficult.” Betz and Marshall said they asked the brothers for another contact at Official Partners but only received “cursory return communications” from one of the brothers.
It appears that Miami-based attorney Todd Rapp Friedman has been added to the case to represent the Alexanders.
Betz did not immediately respond to Inman’s request for comment.
Side sued Official Partners and the Alexanders in October 2024 for breach of contract, alleging they had failed to repay a $4.6 million promissory note dating back to August 2022.
After Side dissociated Tal and Oren’s licenses from the firm in the wake of mounting sexual assault allegations against them, the brothers claimed they had unilaterally done so, and refused to reinstate them.
The white label firm further alleged that the brothers did not maintain the collateral on the loan, including assets in bank accounts, cash and real estate. Once the brothers were arrested on federal charges of sex trafficking in December, Side filed a restraining order on the collateral to ensure it could not be used as collateral in a bail offer.
Side also filed an amended complaint claiming the Alexanders failed to make a payment to the firm of $1.6 million. The firm is seeking more than $4 million in damages against the brothers.
Tal and Oren were also denied last month a motion to compel arbitration to settle the loan terms. The judge instead granted Side’s restraining order.
The luxury brokers, alongside their brother Alon, are currently being held in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center where they will await their trial until January 2026.
Federal prosecutors recently said they spoke with more than 60 women who are alleged to have been raped by at least one of the brothers, and that additional charges against them would be filed soon in an amended complaint.
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