A law firm that investigated corruption allegations against two New York City unions and found no evidence of wrongdoing had previously received millions of dollars in legal fees from those same organizations. Pitta LLP was hired by the Hotel Trades Council (HTC) and UNITE HERE Local 6 (UH6) to examine a whistleblower letter alleging a culture of quid pro quo corruption and improper gift-giving.
The firm's review concluded in March 2026. Public records indicate that between 2020 and 2025, HTC and UH6 collectively paid Pitta LLP $11.6 million for legal services, an average of nearly $2 million annually.
Further complicating the matter, the chairman of Pitta LLP, Vincent Pitta, has familial ties to the unions. According to the Center for Union Facts (CUF), Pitta's father held leadership positions at the unions for approximately 30 years before his death in 2005, and his sister is married to Peter Ward, the former president of HTC. Pitta confirmed these relationships but stated they did not constitute a conflict of interest.
"Our four-decade relationship with the unions, did not and does not constitute a conflict of interest as it relates to the expedited preliminary review conducted by one of our partners of the ‘anonymous allegations’ which you are interested in," Pitta said in a statement. "We assiduously ‘call them, as we see them,’ to steal some baseball vernacular — without fear or favor."
Legal experts and watchdog groups, however, suggested that such financial and familial connections could create an appearance of impropriety. In a 2022 publication, the law firm Quinn Emanuel noted that when facing potential investigations, companies are often better served by hiring counsel that does not have a long history of providing services to the company, citing potential issues like conflicts of interest and confirmation bias. Similar guidance from the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2020 suggested that government prosecutors might be skeptical of internal investigations conducted by a company's regular counsel.
A spokesperson for HTC denied the underlying whistleblower claims, citing the two investigations commissioned by the union, including Pitta LLP’s review, which concluded there was no evidence of impropriety or unusually close ties between union leadership and hotel management, or of union officials accepting improper gifts. The spokesperson characterized the anonymous claims as an attempt to derail contract negotiations. No union leader or hotel executive implicated in the allegations has been charged with a crime or found to have engaged in professional misconduct.
Pitta also stated that the fees paid by the unions were reasonable, estimating the cost at around $1 per member per week for various legal services. He confirmed his father's past union leadership roles and his sister's marriage to Ward, maintaining that these relationships did not pose a conflict of interest, and that the firm would handle any such issues with the highest ethical standards.