Alina Habba "can't even do things that you learn in evidence class," says CNN legal analyst Elie Honig.

Alina Habba “can’t even do things that you learn in evidence class,” says CNN legal analyst Elie Honig

A former White House attorney for Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s “not surprised” the former president is looking for new representation for his appeal of the defamation trial verdict, calling out Trump lawyer Alina Habba’s management of the case. Trump announced late Tuesday that he was seeking new counsel for his appeal of the $83.3 million verdict in the defamation lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. Habba, who served as Trump’s lead attorney and frequently clashed with the presiding judge throughout the trial, handled the case “in the mafia way,” Ty Cobb told CNN Wednesday, according to HuffPost.

“She’s done his bidding. She’s articulated his political narrative of victimization and unfairness in the judicial system and made some outlandish claims, including the conflict claims,” Cobb continued. "And she lost, so she’s a loser. I’m not surprised that Trump is looking for appellate representation.”

  • lgstarn
    6•5 months ago

    That’s kind of a cool idea, but depending on where you are this is illegal and/or unethical as lawyers have a fiduciary duty to represent their client’s best interest.

    https://www.stimmel-law.com/en/articles/fiduciary-duty

    A lawyer owes a fiduciary duty to a client. The lawyer must at all times act in the best interest of the client and must make full disclosure of any economic or other interest that the lawyer has that might conflict with the interest of the client. The lawyer is obligated to take all actions and give all advice that will benefit the client and to use professional skill and energy to protect the client’s interests. Should a conflict of interest arise (for example, the lawyer discovers that one client wishes to hire him to sue another one of his clients) the lawyer must immediately make full disclosure of such conflict and take steps to immediately end the conflict regardless of the personal cost to the lawyer.

    • @Rivalarrival
      4•5 months ago

      The client gets to decide the client’s best interest. If he wants to take the stand, blocking him from doing so would be a violation of fiduciary duty.