Hulk Hogan will not be taken advantage of. Just because he made a career out of getting knocked around (and probably sustaining a couple head injuries along the way), don’t let that make you think he’s some dummy who can be cajoled out of millions of dollars for fancy lawyers defending his son for nearly killing a friend while drag racing. Because he can’t. Despite Hogan’s attorneys getting a very favorable result for Nick Hogan’s criminal charges (he was sentenced to 8 months and served five and a half), Hulk is seriously pissed at them. Why? Because they didn’t tell him that his then-insurance company was responsible for paying the attorneys’ fees, and kept on billing Hogan directly. Hulk also claims they withheld correspondence between the insurance company, which actually tried to do the right thing and see if he wanted them billed.

The harsh world of legalities must be all too familiar for Hulk Hogan, but this time the semi-retired pro-wrestler has decided to sue the professionals whose job it was to stand up for him. Hogan filed a lawsuit in the Pinellas County on Monday against two attorneys, Morris “Sandy” Weinberg Jr. and Lee Fugate, of the firm Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, with claims that the men (who defended him and son Nick Bollea following Nick’s 2007 car crash) for cheating him out of over $1.5 million.

According to the suit, Hulk’s automotive insurance company Progressive was obligated to cover all necessary legal costs, however the lawyers named allegedly failed to notify him of this and continued to bill at excessively high rates. Hulk also claimed that Progressive attempted numerous times to communicate with him over the incident, but the Zuckerman Spaeder legal team did not make him aware of their letters. By the time he understood his entitlements, he claims the relationship with the insurers had been “terminated.”

“It is common knowledge throughout the legal profession experienced in such matters, especially in the area of insurance defense litigation and personal injury law, that automobile insurance policies include the aforementioned duty to defend the insured, as well as any permissive user, should a civil suit arise or the possibility of a civil claim exist,” the lawsuit stated. “Defendants made no effort to advise of this important fact. Defendants were further aware, or should have been, that Bollea had no experience in the area of insurance.”

Consequently, Hogan alleges in the 44 page suit that he not only paid the big bucks for 17 months until he reached a point where he “couldn’t afford” the fees anymore, but he was billed unawares for time spent on the case by paralegals too. “The charges made by Terry Bollea are simply baseless. The Bollea’s came to Zuckerman Spaeder under very difficult circumstances. Both Terry Bollea and his son faced the threat of criminal prosecution and civil litigation. Zuckerman Spaeder, working with a co-counsel, achieved a very favorable result in the criminal case,” a rep from the firm told Tarts in a statement. “We absolutely dispute and will contest the claims made against us.”

Hogan is suing for unspecified damages and Progressive declined to comment on the incident.

[From Pop Tarts]

Uh, I hate to ever side with the Hogans, but it sure sounds like Hulk has a good case. I love that the lawyers didn’t bother to explain their side whatsoever. They just said, “Nope. Didn’t happen.” I mean they used some legalese, but they talked about things that had nothing to do with the lawsuit. Just because the Hogans “came to Zuckerman Spaeder under very difficult circumstances” – what does that have to do with incorrectly billing them? And getting them a “favorable result” again has nothing to do with billing. They don’t bother to defend or explain a thing; they’re just throwing out as many generic phrases as they can and hoping a few stick. And what in the world could possibly be the explanation for not telling Hulk that Progressive was trying to communicate with all of them over the bills?

Like I said, I never want to side with the Hogans on anything. But their lawyers didn’t respond to a single specific claim and just said they disputed all of it. Excellent defense. I didn’t realize you could still get a law degree from correspondence courses.

Here’s Hulk giving Nick a long goodbye before his departure from LAX on February 19th. Images thanks to BauerGriffinOnline.