BuzzFeed reports that around 20 percent of Trump’s campaign spending this year has gone to his legal fees. A big difference between Trump-the-Businessman versus Trump-the-President seems to be that President Trump actually pays his legal bills. So… people change, I guess.
Trump’s 2020 campaign to re-elect has already spent $835,000 on legal fees in 2018, though some of it was almost certainly for services rendered in 2017. Here are the firms that have profited the most from Trump’s troubles:
Trump campaign legal expenses, first quarter, 2018:
JONES DAY: $345,000+
LAROCCA HORNIK: $185,000+
HARDER LLP: $93,000+
SCHERTLER & ONORATO: $65,000+
VAN HOY: $58,000+
BELKIN BURDEN: $40,000+
THE TRUMP CORPORATION: $24,000+
MCDERMOTT WILL & EMERY: $13,000+
SEYFARTH: $1,300+— Chris “Law Dork” Geidner (@chrisgeidner) April 15, 2018
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Last week, we reported that Jones Day was absolutely hammered in our ATL Power 100 rankings, largely because their “reputation” scores suffered. Taking $345,000 of Trump’s white grievance money isn’t going to help matters.
I wonder if Jones Day will be a cautionary tale for McDermott Will & Emery. You can see that MWE hasn’t done a lot of work for Trump so far. But MWE partner Todd Harrison has been all over the Trump attempt to assert privilege over the documents seized from Michael Cohen’s offices. Harrison has been out front, carrying Trump’s water that somebody other than the Department of Justice’s taint team has to determine which documents are privileged.
McDermott hasn’t promoted its association with Trump the way Jones Day did. That might make a big difference in the recruiting and lateral market. But every time some Trump argument shows up on MWE letterhead, more people will be turned off from the firm.
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Trump isn’t a regular client. He’s a deeply divisive figure who represents white supremacy, sexual predation, and the attack on the rule of law (to some). Representing him carries unique reputational risks.
The next generation of lawyers is watching.
More Than One-Fifth Of The Trump Campaign’s Spending This Year Has Been On Legal Fees [BuzzFeed]
Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. He will resist.