Yeah...nothing to see here...move along there citizen...move along
IT WAS A UNITED FRONT… Trump’s Legal Team Reveals Shocking ‘Conflict of Interest’ in E. Jean Carroll Case: Judge Lewis Kaplan and E. Jean Carroll’s Lawyer Roberta Kaplan Worked Together at Same Law Firm — Judge Allegedly Served as Mentor
The legal team of former President Donald Trump is set to challenge the ridiculous $83.3 million jury verdict in the defamation case brought by nutcase E. Jean Carroll.
The basis of their appeal, as revealed toThe New York Post, hinges on an alleged “conflict of interest” involving Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan and Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan.
Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, expressed shock upon learning that both Judge Kaplan and Roberta Kaplan, who are not related, previously worked together at the same prestigious law firm in the early 1990s.
This connection was uncovered by The Post columnist Charles Gasparino, following a tip that Judge Kaplan was once a mentor to Roberta Kaplan.
According to The Post, Judge Kaplan and Roberta Kaplan were employed at Paul, Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison in the early 1990s.
Judge Kaplan served as a partner until his appointment to the federal bench in 1994, while Roberta Kaplan worked there until 2016 before founding her own firm, Kaplan Hecker & Fink.
Roberta Kaplan worked at Paul, Weiss Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison in Midtown from 1992 to 2016, before leaving to become a founding partner of Kaplan Hecker & Fink, according to her LinkedIn page.
During her early years at Paul Weiss, she worked as associate of the firm at the same time as Judge Kaplan, who was a partner there until 1994 when he was appointed to the federal bench by then-President Bill Clinton.
Zak Sawyer, a rep for Roberta Kaplan, insisted no conflict exists.
“They overlapped for less than two years in the early 1990s at a large law firm when he was a senior partner and she was a junior associate and she never worked for him,” said Sawyer, who declined to provide further comment.
But a former Paul Weiss partner who asked not to be named said like all associates at the firm, Roberta Kaplan did her best to distinguish herself before partners, including Lewis Kaplan.
“Lew was like her mentor,” claimed the former partner.
Habba criticized the lack of disclosure of this past professional relationship, calling it “insane” and “incestuous,” and a potential violation of judicial ethics rules.
“This is news to us,” said Habba. “We are going to include this in our appeal and take appropriate measures. The fact it wasn’t disclosed is an ethics violation.”
On Friday, a jury ordered Donald Trump to pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll over defamatory remarks he made about her while he was president in response to her rape accusation.
