An Albany judge has put the brakes on more than $700,000 in legal bills that former top Andrew Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa wanted New York taxpayers to cover, rejecting her bid to have the state pick up the tab for work done after she was dismissed from a federal lawsuit.
Judge’s ruling
Acting state Supreme Court Justice E. Danielle Jose-Decker ruled that once federal courts dismissed DeRosa from the case, she was no longer a party and the state "had no necessity" to continue paying for her private lawyers. The state comptroller had already flagged invoices that showed discovery work continuing after DeRosa’s dismissal, and the judge leaned on that concern in her decision.
According to correspondence cited in the ruling, the comptroller questioned billing tied to preparation for and attendance at roughly 10 depositions and other discovery appearances that took place after DeRosa was out of the case, which helped sink the reimbursement claim. The ruling and underlying dispute were detailed by the Times Union.
DeRosa’s team responds
DeRosa’s attorney, Catherine M. Foti, said the firm stayed involved in the litigation "to protect Ms. DeRosa’s rights" because neither side knew the precise basis for the federal court’s dismissal, and there was a risk the decision could be reversed or the complaint amended. In comments reported in the same coverage, Foti blasted portions of the attorney general’s earlier report on Cuomo’s office as "fatally flawed" and signaled that DeRosa’s team expects to seek further review of Jose-Decker’s ruling. Those remarks and the legal filings are laid out by the Times Union.
How big a tab is this?
The fight over DeRosa’s invoices is one slice of a far larger bill. State figures and watchdog reporting put the overall legal costs tied to Cuomo-era controversies at roughly $60 million, a number that has turned taxpayer-funded defense work into a political lightning rod. That broader total is outlined in coverage of how the taxpayer tab reaches $60 million.
Within that spending, the Morvillo Abramowitz firm that represented DeRosa and several other Cuomo aides has received roughly $1.3 million in state reimbursements tied to Cuomo-related litigation, according to New York Focus. Even with Jose-Decker’s ruling, that is still a healthy pile of billable hours.
Legal context
New York’s Public Officers Law §17 sets the ground rules for when the state must defend and, in some cases, indemnify public employees who are sued over actions taken in the course of their official duties. The law requires that the work be within the scope of employment and that the representation be necessary and not tied to the employee’s own wrongdoing. Those provisions are what the comptroller and courts lean on when they decide whether to approve or reject reimbursement requests. The statute is available as Public Officers Law §17.
What happens next
DeRosa’s lawyers have already telegraphed their next move, saying they expect Jose-Decker’s ruling to be overturned on appeal. If an appeals court ultimately sides with them, the dispute could land back in state court for another round of review.
For now, though, the comptroller’s original decision stands. New York is not on the hook for the additional $700,000-plus at this stage, even as the broader fight over how much taxpayers should cover for Cuomo-era legal defenses is very much alive. Reported coverage of the ruling has included local outlets and a summary of the decision in the New York Post.
