Stand On It
Atlanta-based criminal defense attorney Drew Findling has a track record of
working magic for his clients. Hip-hop’s been lucky to have him.
Interview: C. Vernon Coleman II
Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Winter 2024 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands in January of 2025 and available for sale on the XXL website now.
Cocaine kingpin Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory doesn’t trust many people. But when the Black Mafia Family boss was fighting a double-murder case in connection to the infamous 2003 Atlanta shooting of Diddy’s former bodyguard, Anthony “Wolf” Jones, Meech put his life in the hands of criminal defense attorney Drew Findling and walked away a free man. For over a decade, rap stars have also entrusted their freedom to the high-powered attorney. Offset even calls him “the biggest lawyer in the game,” a nickname that underscores Findling’s reputation and success in defending celebrity clients.
A native of Coram, N.Y., Findling attended Oglethorpe University in Atlanta on a track scholarship. After college, he went to law school at nearby Emory University before becoming a public defender and eventually starting his practice, The Findling Law Firm, in 1987. He made a name in the city as a fierce attorney for years. Following the Big Meech case in 2003, Findling’s courtroom skills spread throughout the entertainment community. He would take on celebrity clients like NBA players Shaquille O’Neal and Dennis Rodman. In 2013, Findling represented Gucci Mane in the rapper’s federal gun case and was able to get Guwop a three-year plea deal when the Atlanta hip-hop artist was facing 20. Findling’s success in these high-profile cases is a testament to his legal prowess, leaving the entertainment community in awe.
Several more rappers have recently called on Findling’s services, including Lil Baby, Migos, DaBaby, Trippie Redd and the late Young Dolph, who dubbed Findling his “billion-dollar lawyer” in 2017. Findling went to bat in Cardi B’s 2018 assault case, securing a deal that didn’t include jail time. He is also responsible for getting YFN Lucci a favorable plea deal in a RICO case and is handling YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s legal drama.
In mid-September, Findling spoke with XXL via Zoom from his Buckhead, Atlanta law office, which is lined with photos of the attorney and his supreme clientele, whom he refers to by first name. The sharply dressed 64-year-old legal ace is busier than ever these days. He steps off camera to field a call from a client. Moments after apologizing for the delay, Boosie BadAzz is hitting his line. “He’ll call back,” Findling notes assuredly before settling in to discuss working on some of hip-hop’s most prominent legal cases as of late, bonding with his clients, rappers’ issues with the police and more.
XXL: Was the Big Meech case the first hip-hop-related case that you were on?
Drew Findling: I represented Demetrius Flenory. I didn’t call him Meech. I didn’t even know what the Black Mafia Family was. Meech was a brilliant young man at the time. And, he had a real discerning eye for certain things. So, we just kind of hit it off. And then, of course, the double-murder case came. We were successful at, basically, just destroying that case. Of course, all that [BMF stuff] came to light during the federal case.
So, you think that’s how you got some of your other high-profile rap clients? From that case?
Yeah. I think people do not give people in [the hip-hop] industry enough credit for their brilliance and they’re incredibly ultra-intelligent approach to their profession. They’re looking for work ethic. They’re looking for intelligence. All those things are important to people in that industry, whether they be performers or whether they be owners.
Are you a hip-hop fan at all? Or coming into it when you started getting all these clients, were you a hip-hop fan?
I’m a fan in terms of respect I always say that grinders are attracted to one another. I’m blown
away by the amount of talent that goes into it. You know, when someone sends me a clip of Jonathan Kirk, [whose artist name is] DaBaby, freestyling at a radio show, I’m like, I got to call him up and go, “Jon, wow. I mean, I don’t even know what to say, man.”
When Lil Baby performs what is essentially the anthem of the BLM movement, post-George Floyd, there’s a brilliance that goes into that and there’s a spontaneity to the video that accompanies it. I’m blown away by his ability to pick up on that. And really, I think, makes a difference.
Why do you think so many rappers have gravitated to your practice?
I think it’s a safe space. I have no agenda. Offset said, “Drew Findling is the only one that’s ever talked me out of buying a car.” I had a little birdie tell me he was about to, when he was younger, spend way too much money on a sick car. And I called him up, he picked up. He never should have picked up. I got him to stay on the phone with me until he left the dealership. Now you get to a point where you can’t do that.
But I’ve never been one to hold back just giving my opinion. Last presidential election, Offset wanted me to go vote with him for his first time. So, we met that morning and I did. I’m OK with doing that.
You represented Offset’s ex-wife Cardi B in her assault case that got resolved in 2022. How were you able to get that resolved without any jail time?
Cardi’s case, it was one of the more notorious cases that endured the delay of COVID. We just kind of rode the wave and prepared. And we were on the cusp of trial. She did not need, as some people say, an F on her report card. A felony. And got those reduced just to misdemeanors. All she had to do was the 15 community projects, I believe. To resolve it, that really worked to her advantage. She’s been doing great ever since.
YFN Lucci is also a huge case you’ve been working on. He was facing life in prison, but you ended up working out a deal for him in which he might be coming home this year. [Editor’s note: YFN Lucci has been released from prison since this interview.]
There were a couple things working. One: that [YFN Lucci] Rayshawn Bennett was never gonna say a word against anybody. Just wanted to do his case and fight his case. I think the perception was this was going to be a tougher fight for [the prosecution] than they originally anticipated.
So, we were able to work out everything. And most importantly, the murder charges being dismissed on that lengthy indictment. If he does all programs, which are possible and he is doing, he can be out between now and this coming January, which is insane if you think about it. [He’s] another guy who is incredibly intelligent.
“I’m not going to show up in the studio and tell you how to do things. This is my studio.”
You’re currently on the YoungBoy Never Broke Again case. Can you speak on how that case is going?
As you know, things got a lot more complicated in the past nine months in Utah…While out on bond in Utah, unfortunately, he picked up two state cases: a case in Cache County and a case in Weber County. Cache County had to do with the purchase of different pharmaceuticals, and Weber County had to do with the possession of firearm by a convicted felon.
What we worked on, I put my Utah team together, phenomenal lawyers in Utah, best of the best. And what we talked about is a little bit complicated, but why don’t we do what’s called a Rule 20 and bring Baton Rouge over. Let’s just globally resolve everything together. We’re trying to lock in a deal with him right now. People are going to be shocked at how quickly he’ll be out. And lawyers will be shocked that do this for a living because the ones that I brainstorm with are just blown away. So, it all may work out for him.
What would you say is the biggest rapper-related case that you’ve worked on?
In terms of entrusting their life to us on multiple fronts; Jonathan Kirk, DaBaby. He flew me down on [2020] Super Bowl weekend and said, “I got this going on, this going on, this going on, this going on, this going on…But I don’t want to think about it anymore. I want to concentrate on my music, and you concentrate on this for me.” And it was, and has been, a unique relationship.
So, that’s been really different because exactly what he wanted, we did. We took over for him and then tried the case in Miami. That got all that notoriety because he refused to settle and got a defense verdict. They came after him for what, $6 million? Came after Universal for billions, came up to $6 million and got zero. So, not the biggest case, but the most diverse responsibility would have been from Jon.
What do you think is the biggest struggle rappers face these days?
Well, like so many people, it’s just the systemic racism that paralyzes our criminal justice system. The fact that so many people, namely law enforcement, have a hard time accepting the fact that you can be a young man of color and be able to afford a $300,000 car and $100,000 watch and be able to legally have $400,000 cash on you. That’s only because of one thing, and that’s because of the color of their skin. That’s just a problem.
Do you think rappers are getting arrested more these days?
I just don’t see it going away as it should. So, they can make the decision to not drive around in a red Ferrari, or they can still do it but run that risk. It’s always a problem. I’m always getting phone calls about people getting pulled over. And most of the time, nothing comes out of it. But nevertheless, they’re getting pulled over. I’m not getting a phone call from that White dentist in his or her Ferrari getting pulled over.
You’ve been called a mentor by many of your clients. Why do you feel it’s important to go that extra mile to be more than an attorney?
I’m going to do it because I think it’s a sense of responsibility. Not to handle them as just a paycheck, but more to it. Because they do have that target on them.
What’s one of the biggest pieces of advice you’ve found yourself giving to your hip-hop clients along the way?
The importance of having licensed and bonded security, not just hiring your friend. I’m going to tell them anytime I can, “Make sure you have that neutral and detached, well-respected financial advisor, as opposed to just a buddy that tells you what to do with the money or family member.”
You don’t want to be somebody’s biggest client. For financial advice, you want to be the low man, low woman on the totem pole. Then, it’s less tempting for that person to make unwise decisions to benefit them and not you. Be very careful about who you surround yourself with.
Have you ever turned down a hip-hop artist who contacted you for representation?
It’s not a hip-hop artist, but it’s anybody that comes in here and is telling us how we’re going to do things. That doesn’t work. I’m not going to show up in the studio and tell you how to do things. This is my studio.
You’ve kind of taken to the “billion-dollar lawyer” nickname. What does that name mean to you?
I’ll never forget that. [Young] Dolph was getting out of the hospital [after being shot in Los Angeles in 2017]. I show up at his hospital room and there’s nobody around. And then, he comes out in a wheelchair with his videographer. He turns, and he goes, “I got my billion-dollar lawyer with me.” I couldn’t even hear him at the time. You can see the shock on my face. It just kinda took a life of its own. Like I say to people around here all the time, it just means we have more pressure. We have to work harder than anybody. Nothing wrong with it.
Drew Findling
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The Winter 2024 issue of XXL magazine featuring high-powered hip-hop attorney Drew Findling‘s interview is available for purchase now and is on newsstands. The issue also includes GloRilla and Sexyy Red on the cover, conversations with Ab-Soul, Dej Loaf, Quando Rondo, Ferg, Nav, Kash Doll, Sauce Walka, Anycia, Baby Kia, BLP Kosher, OsamaSon, Sugarhill Ddot, dancehall artist Skillibeng and producer Ace Charisma. There’s also a look at the new season of the Netflix reality competition show Rhythm + Flow through the eyes of its judges Latto, DJ Khaled and Ludacris, plus 18 hip-hop heavyweights discuss the state of lyricism.