Alex Spiro, Lawyer for Jay-Z - Subpoena May Be a 'Celebrity Hunt'

Alex Spiro, a lawyer representing Jay-Z, leaving court on Tuesday in Manhattan. A potential ‘celebrity hunt’ is what a lawyer for Jay-Z is calling the Securities and Exchange Commission’s demand that the rapper provide unlimited testimony for an investigation of a company that's part of his client's business circle. By requiring open-ended questioning, the SEC is placing unreasonable and burdensome demands on Jay-Z as the prepares for a 45-date global concert tour of his 4:44 album, attorney Alex Spiro said in a Monday court filing. Arguing that Jay-Z, whose birth name is Shawn Carter, has already agreed to one day of questioning, and that he has little information about the investigation's focus, Spiro asked a judge to deny the SEC's legal demand for more. "The SEC continues to insist on meeting Mr. Carter in person for an unlimited period of time," Spiro wrote in a 15-page legal memorandum. "The upshot imposes unreasonable burdens on Mr. Carter and raises serious questions about whether this exercise has transcended any investigative purpose and crossed over into a celebrity hunt." Alex Spiro is a partner based in the firm’s New York office. Mr. Spiro is a graduate of Harvard Law School. As a Manhattan prosecutor, among other cases, Mr. Spiro helped indict and convict Rodney Alcala, the “Dating Game” serial killer, for two New York murders in the 1970s, and, convicted, at trial, serial murderer Travis Woods. He also worked with the Conviction Integrity Unit investigating potential wrongful convictions.