Mar 01, 2022 · John Eastman, Trump’s lawyer on overturning election, under investigation by California Bar Chapman School of Law professor John Eastman testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2017. (Susan...
Sep 29, 2021 · The New Yorker this week highlighted a little-noticed detail in the indictment of longtime Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg that some legal experts say is a sign of potential trouble for ...
Apr 20, 2022 · When former president Donald Trump decided to sue three reporters The New York Times and his niece Mary L. Trump over a 2018 story on his tax returns, he didn't turn to a big-name media lawyer. Instead, he is being represented by the Bedminster, New Jersey-based Alina Habba, managing partner of Habba Madiao & Associates (via The Washington Post ). Habba …
Nov 18, 2016 · In a San Diego courtroom on Friday afternoon, lawyers for President-elect Donald J. Trump will make their case for postponing the trial in a federal class action fraud lawsuit involving now-defunct Trump University. The trial is currently scheduled to begin on Nov. 28, and Trump’s lawyers are asking that it be delayed until after his ...
White House Counsel | |
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Incumbent Dana Remus since January 20, 2021 | |
Formation | 1943 |
First holder | Samuel Rosenman |
Instead, he is being represented by the Bedminster, New Jersey-based Alina Habba, managing partner of Habba Madiao & Associates (via The Washington Post ). Habba appears to be a virtual unknown in media law, and in its list of practice areas, Habba Madaio lists business and commercial litigation, insurance defense, real state, entertainment structure as well as civil litigation as its main practice areas.
Habba told The Washington Post that she had never worked for Donald Trump before, because she had "just stepped in" and that the firm is "hoping to have some traction and clear the president's name." Mary L. Trump, who is one of the four defendants, has dismissed the action, saying that Trump was now "going to throw anything against the wall he can" (via The Daily Beast ).
Trump University (along with Trump himself) is actually the defendant in three different lawsuits: a federal class-action suit alleging consumer violations, a federal class-action racketeering case, and a New York state civil suit brought by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
The trial is currently scheduled to begin on Nov. 28, and Trump’s lawyers are asking that it be delayed until after his inauguration as President of the United States on Jan. 20, 2017. Here’s what you need to know:
That’s Low v. Trump, the class-action suit alleging deceptive sales practices.
Launched in 2005, the business changed its name to The Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010, after the New York State Education Department pressured it to stop calling itself a university. That was also the year the current class action suit was filed. According to the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York, ...
Donald Trump at a media conference announcing the establishment of Trump University, May 23, 2005 in New York City.
There is one wild card, however, Gerhardt says. Trump's presidency could be affected if a trial turns up new evidence that he recently—such as during the campaign—took illegal actions that might reflect on his fitness to serve, Gerhardt says.
Trump and his team also promoted a website that aims to discredit some of the former customers’ complaints by displaying positive reviews they gave the company back in 2008. Guilo, the former customer, told NPR that he did indeed give the program high marks at the time, but that, too, was forced.
Three lawsuits were filed asserting that Trump University engaged in a variety of illegal business practices, ranging from false claims to racketeering. Two were federal class actions: one against Trump University and its managers, including Donald Trump, and one against Donald Trump personally. A third case was filed in New York State court.
Trump University was incorporated in 2004 by Trump, Sexton, and Spitalny, as a New York limited liability company. Donald Trump owned 93% of the company. On May 23, 2005, Trump University formally launched its education program. At the opening presentation, Trump said: "If I had a choice of making lots of money or imparting lots of knowledge, I think I'd be as happy to impart knowledge as to make money." According to the Washington Post, part of the school sales pitch was, "the billionaire had made enough money for himself. Now, he would put his famous brain to work for the little guy". High prices were charged for seminars and programs not to enrich Trump, but so that (as one teacher explained to students) “you assume personal responsibility for doing the work.”
In October 2015, Garten also said Trump would ask Curiel to recuse himself because of his "animosity toward Mr. Trump and his views". However, Trump's lawyers never filed any motion to recuse, and according to legal experts such a motion would lack legal merit and possibly be considered frivolous.
On August 23, 2010, U.S. district judge Irma E. Gonzalez ruled that Trump University was not a public figure, did not need to show malice on Makaeff's part, and could proceed with its defamation claim. Makaeff appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where a three-judge panel ruled unanimously on April 17, 2013, that Trump University is a "limited-purpose public figure" and that Trump University must demonstrate malice on Makaeff's part to establish defamation; it returned the case to the district court to consider the defamation claim against that standard. After additional briefing, U.S. district judge Gonzalo P. Curiel ruled in Makaeff's favor on June 16, 2014, and dismissed the defamation claim. Makaeff then, at the court's invitation, presented evidence of her legal costs and fees in connection with the defamation litigation. She asked for $1.3 million, and on April 20, 2015, Curiel ordered Trump University to reimburse Makaeff $798,000 in legal fees and costs.
On November 18, 2016, it was reported that Trump had agreed to pay $25 million to settle the two class actions and the New York suit. The settlement was reached ten days before the San Diego class action was scheduled to go to trial. $21 million will go to the participants in the class actions, $3 million will go to New Yorkers not covered by the class actions, and a penalty of up to $1 million will be assessed by the state of New York for running an unlicensed university. The plaintiff's attorneys agreed to forgo their fees and work pro bono as to maximize the amount that will go to the approximately 7,000 former Trump University students who are part of the case. The settlement also specifies that Trump, who had previously vowed he would never settle, does not admit to any wrongdoing. The settlement was brokered by U.S. district judge Jeffrey T. Miller, who offered his services to the parties on November 10 at Curiel's request. Curiel approved the settlement on March 31, 2017.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the settlement and payment by Trump, "is a stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for the over 6,000 victims of his fraudulent university." Trump himself said he settled "for a small fraction of the potential award" because he was too busy as president-elect to take it to trial. He added: "The ONLY bad thing about winning the Presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad!"
The lawsuits centered around allegations that Trump University defrauded its students by using misleading marketing practices and engaging in aggressive sales tactics . The company and the lawsuits against it received renewed interest due to Trump's candidacy in the 2016 presidential election. Despite repeatedly insisting he would not settle, Trump settled all three lawsuits in November 2016 for a total of $25 million after being elected president.