Avenatti was born in Sacramento, California, into a family of Italian heritage and spent his childhood in Colorado, Utah, and eventually Chesterfield, Missouri, where he attended Parkway Central High School. He studied political science at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1996 after a year at Saint Louis University, and during his undergraduate years worked as an opposition researcher for Rahm Emanuel's political consulting firm. He attended George Washington University Law School, graduating first in his class with a Juris Doctor with high honours in 2000. While a law student he worked with Professor Jonathan Turley on constitutional issues relating to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
After law school Avenatti joined O'Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles, where he worked alongside Daniel M. Petrocelli and assisted on cases involving clients including Christina Aguilera and musical acts Don Henley and Glenn Frey. He subsequently joined Greene Broillet & Wheeler before founding Eagan Avenatti LLP in 2007 with offices in Newport Beach, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. His firm pursued a number of high-profile litigations, including a $454 million jury verdict in a federal fraud case against Kimberly-Clark and Halyard Health, later reduced on appeal, an $80.5 million class-action settlement against Service Corporation International, and a $41 million jury verdict against KPMG. In 2013, Avenatti formed Global Baristas to acquire Tully's Coffee out of bankruptcy.
Beginning in 2010, Avenatti participated in approximately 33 sportscar races in the United States and Europe, including events in the American Le Mans Series, FIA World Endurance Championship, Porsche Supercup, and United SportsCar Championship. His programme included multiple starts at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 2012 Petit Le Mans, and the Long Beach Grand Prix. He had originally entered the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans but withdrew a few weeks before the race due to scheduling conflicts, replacing himself with Patrick Long.
At the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, Avenatti co-drove the No. 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia in the GTE-Am class alongside Saudi driver Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud and Polish driver Jakub Giermaziak. The entry finished seventh in class.
In March 2018, Avenatti filed suit on behalf of Stormy Daniels seeking to void a 2016 non-disclosure agreement concerning an alleged affair with Donald Trump, and separately represented Daniels in a defamation claim against Trump. The defamation suit was dismissed in October 2018 and Daniels was ordered to pay Trump's legal fees. Avenatti made 108 cable news appearances in just over two months in 2018, becoming one of the most visible legal commentators in American media during that period.
In September 2018 Avenatti announced he represented Julie Swetnick, who made additional allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The allegations were subsequently challenged when a second declarant distanced herself from the sworn statement Avenatti had filed on her behalf, and Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley referred both Avenatti and Swetnick to the Department of Justice for a potential criminal investigation into alleged false statements to Congress. In February 2019, Avenatti provided Cook County prosecutors with a video alleged to show R. Kelly engaging in sex with a minor, acting on behalf of a whistleblower.
In March 2019 Avenatti was arrested in New York and charged with attempting to extort up to $25 million from athletic apparel company Nike by threatening to publicise damaging claims about payments to families of high school basketball players unless Nike retained him and paid his fees. On February 14, 2020 a New York jury convicted him on all three extortion counts. He was sentenced on July 8, 2021 to 30 months in prison.
Also in March 2019, federal prosecutors in California filed a 197-page complaint accusing Avenatti of wire fraud and bank fraud, alleging he had embezzled client funds and submitted false tax returns to obtain more than $4 million in loans. Subsequent charges expanded the allegations to include embezzling settlement funds intended for NBA player Hassan Whiteside's former girlfriend, with Avenatti accused of diverting approximately $2.5 million from the settlement to purchase a private jet. In May 2019, further charges were filed alleging he stole proceeds from Stormy Daniels' book deal. He was convicted of identity theft and wire fraud relating to Daniels on February 4, 2022, and on June 2, 2022 was sentenced to four years in prison.
In December 2022, Avenatti received a 14-year sentence in a California federal court for wire fraud and tax obstruction relating to Tully's Coffee payroll taxes. That sentence was vacated by the Ninth Circuit in October 2024 on the grounds that it overstated actual losses; on resentencing in June 2025, Judge James V. Selna imposed 135 months (just over 11 years), to be served concurrently with his other sentences. Avenatti was disbarred by the State Bar of California on February 5, 2025, and was transferred from Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island to a halfway house in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles in April 2026.
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