Biglaw

The Biglaw Firms Potentially Caught In The Cohen Raid

Which firms are connected to the controversial attorney?

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Michael Cohen (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Discovery nerds — and political junkies — are having a field day with the materials seized by the FBI’s raid of Trump Organization attorney Michael Cohen. S.D.N.Y.’s Judge Kimba Wood has ruled over the proceedings with aplomb — revealing Sean Hannity as a client of Michael Cohen and bringing the term “taint team” to living rooms across the nation. But there’s some Biglaw news buried in the details of porn stars, “taint” and payoffs.

Cohen’s legal team, led by McDermott Will & Emery partner Stephen Ryan, wanted, in order of preference, their team or a third party special master to review the seized material for privilege. It was ultimately an unsuccessful attempt to stop the Department of Justice’s filter team (I really can’t say “taint” anymore) from getting the first look at the materials seized in the raid, but the legal team did tell Judge Wood that Biglaw privileged materials may be in the FBI’s haul.

The first Biglaw firm caught up in the mess is Squire Patton Boggs. Last year the firm announced a strategic alliance with Cohen, but as the heat’s been turned up, they’ve sought to distance themselves. Despite that, Ryan said there was a possibility Squire Patton Boggs’s privileged materials got caught up in the raid, as reported by Law.com:

Ryan’s letter on Monday left open the possibility that Squire Patton Boggs client matters referred by Cohen could have been seized by law enforcement. He claimed that Cohen referred five clients to Squire Patton Boggs and “likely participated in communications with attorneys and clients” of the firm related to these client referrals.

“We are not listing them today and defer to [Squire Patton Boggs] and its clients to assert a privilege claim,” Ryan said.

The prosecution, however, said the chance Squire Patton Boggs’s materials were seized are small. And the firm seems to agree:

A Squire Patton Boggs spokesman said Monday that since Cohen was “never an employee or partner of our firm, and since neither our firm nor any of our clients are involved in the government’s investigation, there is nothing to add to what is already stated” by prosecutors in a brief last week.

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There were other firms’ materials the defense asserted could have been caught in the raid — including Morgan Lewis partner Sheri Dillon, who rocketed to infamy taking the bullet for the Trump administration’s interpretation of the emoluments clause:

Other law firms and lawyers who have advised Cohen and whose documents may be contained in the seized records, said Ryan, include Morgan Lewis tax attorney Sheri Dillon, whose work on behalf of Trump took center stage last year with regard to the president’s family business and his ethical duties and obligations; David Schwartz of New York’s Gerstman Schwartz Malito, Cohen’s attorney in a libel suit against news website BuzzFeed; Brent Blakely, who is representing Cohen in a California suit brought by Stephanie Clifford, the porn star better known as Stormy Daniels; and Michael Sirota and David Bass of Cole Schotz, for trusts and estates and corporate advisory issues. (Cole Schotz has previously advised on Trump business matters.)

In addition to having long range implication for the fate of the American democracy, the Cohen investigation is also providing lawyers with lots to gossip about.

headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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