Lil Wayne Sues Ex-Lawyer for $20 Million

TMZ has learned that Lil Wayne is suing his former attorney Ronald Sweeney for allegedly swindling him out of $20 million while he represented the musician. Sweeney served as Wayne’s lawyer from 2005 through September 2018, and charged him 10 percent for every deal he closed, well beyond the industry standard of 5 percent, Wayne says. 

In addition to charging Wayne for his services, Sweeney allegedly tried to squeeze more cash out of him by seeking an additional 10 percent for all profits netted by his Young Money label. Weezy, however, prevented that from happening. 

Sweeney managed to pull even more funds out of Wayne by enlisting the help of another law firm for the ongoing legal battles with Birdman and Cash Money Records, as well as Universal Music Group. The firm allegedly took 23 percent from the settlement with Cash Money, and 15 percent from the latter settlement. Those percentages were added onto the 10 percent Sweeney was already expected to receive.  

Initial reports indicated that Universal cut a check for “well over $10 million,” but that amount has never been confirmed. “A portion of the information released today is true, a settlement has been reached, but the dollar amount being disclosed is false,” Karen Civil wrote in response to reports of the settlement. “Per our settlement agreement, the matter has been amicably resolved to the satisfaction of all parties,” Sweeney said at the time. “In terms of the particulars, we’re prohibited legally from saying anything further. I can say that my client is happy. He is his own man, a man that owns his assets, his music and himself. At some point, Wayne will let his fans know what’s going to happen next.”