Right in the middle of some courtroom drama, Nicki Minaj just got hit with a curveball.
Reports recently came out that the NY rapper’s lawyer, Judd Burstein, abruptly backed out of his duties. Nicki has been a longtime client of Burstein, which made the situation even more bizarre. The timing couldn’t be worse, as the Starships artist is in the middle of a $10 million legal battle. With little time to spare, the leader of the Barbz has been scrambling to find a new representation.
The Northstar Group submitted a letter to the judge asking for an extended time on the case since they have recently lost their lawyer.
“The same day, Mr. Burstein abruptly withdrew entirely from his representation of [Nicki and her company], without giving any prior notice. [Minaj and her company] intend to appear and defend themselves in this matter, and we are requesting a stay of the proceedings including all deadlines and further motion practice, so that [Minaj and her company] may have time to find and retain new litigation counsel, have counsel review the case file, confer with their new counsel, and prepare any responsive filings in an orderly manner.”
Nicki Lewinski requested an additional 45 days to get a new lawyer to take on her case.
Burstein made a statement to US Magazine on stepping down from representing Minaj, “After I won a dismissal of Tameer Peak’s defamation lawsuit against Nicki in New Jersey, I declined the opportunity to represent her when Peak refiled it in New York. I believe that it would be inappropriate for me to discuss the reasons why I chose to decline the representation.”
