Under the leadership of Alina Habba, the legal team representing Donald Trump is preparing to contest the $83.3 million jury verdict that favored E. Jean Carroll. A newly discovered alleged conflict of interest between Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, and Manhattan federal judge Lewis Kaplan forms the premise of their appeal.
According to the assertion made by Trump’s attorney, the dispute arises from an undisclosed professional association between Roberta Kaplan and Judge Kaplan. In the early 1990s, they reportedly collaborated at the same white-shoe law firm, Paul, Weiss Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison. Habba was astounded to discover this connection; she referred to it as “irrational and incestuous” and asserted that the withholding of this information violated judicial ethics regulations.
From 1992 to 2016, Roberta Kaplan was an employee of Paul Weiss, where she concurrently worked with Judge Kaplan, a former partner at the firm prior to his 1994 appointment to the federal bench. A Roberta Kaplan representative maintained that there is no conflict of interest, citing their scant professional interactions during their tenure at the prominent law firm.
This purported conflict, according to Trump’s legal team, is substantial enough to affect the outcome of the trial. Carroll filed the lawsuit, alleging that Trump defamed her by refuting her allegations of sexual assault and labeling them a “hoax.” In 2019, Trump was deemed liable by the jury for slandering Carroll.
Certain legal professionals have expressed skepticism regarding the magnitude of the award, citing the ambiguity surrounding the monetary harm inflicted upon Carroll by Trump’s statements. After the verdict was rendered, Trump took to Truth Social to convey his dissent and declare his intention to file an appeal. He referred to the legal system as a “political weapon.”
The disclosure of the possible discord between the counsel for Carroll and the judge introduces an additional aspect to this prominent legal matter. The current attention is directed towards the ethical ramifications of this purportedly undisclosed relationship and its influence on the legal proceedings, as Trump’s legal team readies himself for the appeal.