Trump's Lawyer Alina Habba Raises, Then Drops, 'Conflict' Charge Against E. Jean Carroll Judge Former President Donald Trump...
Trump's Lawyer Alina Habba Raises, Then Drops, 'Conflict' Charge Against E. Jean Carroll Judge
Former President Donald Trump's lawyer Alina Habba retreated from a conflict of interest allegation against the judge overseeing the E. Jean Carroll defamation case after Carroll's attorney threatened to seek sanctions.
Habba had submitted a letter to the court on Monday, referencing a New York Post article. The article highlighted that U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan and Roberta Kaplan, E. Jean Carroll's lawyer (no relation), had both worked at the prominent law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in the 1990s. According to an unnamed former partner at the firm, which boasts approximately 1,000 lawyers, Lewis Kaplan had served as a mentor to Roberta Kaplan.
In response, Carroll's attorney stated in her letter on Tuesday that such assertions were inaccurate. Roberta Kaplan clarified that there was no such relationship between them, nor does she remember working with Judge Kaplan during their brief overlap at the firm.
Even if there had been a prior professional association, it wouldn't necessarily invalidate the defamation ruling. Habba, in her letter, implied that Judge Kaplan should have recused himself, referencing the federal judges' code of conduct. However, she highlighted a section that seems to undermine her argument. Specifically, she emphasized language stating that a judge must disqualify themselves if "a lawyer with whom the judge previously practiced law served during such association as a lawyer concerning the matter." This could have posed an issue if the two had collaborated while Roberta Kaplan was handling the Carroll case — meaning "during such association," as per the language cited by Habba. However, they worked at the same firm in the early 1990s and didn't collaborate at all during the period when Carroll's case arose. Therefore, the language highlighted by Habba appears to contradict the validity of her own claim.
In her own correspondence with the judge on Tuesday, Roberta Kaplan countered the allegations, dismissing them as entirely unfounded.
She clarified that she began her tenure at the Paul, Weiss firm as a junior litigation associate in October 1992, during which time Lewis Kaplan held a senior position as a litigation partner. His appointment to the bench occurred later, after he was nominated by then-President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in August 1994.
No comments