President Trump's legal team at Sullivan & Cromwell is adding partners as key appeal deadlines approach in the Manhattan, civil fraud, and defamation cases.
President Donald Trump's defense team at Sullivan & Cromwell is being reshaped ahead of a busy stretch of appellate deadlines, with the elite firm planning to add partners in the coming weeks. The moves come as Trump presses appeals in the Manhattan hush money case, the New York civil fraud suit, and the E. Jean Carroll defamation verdict.
The firm originally staffed Trump's defense with five of its top partners, a group that included former acting Solicitor General Jeff Wall and other Supreme Court veterans. Four of those five have since moved on, with several elevated to posts in the administration and the judiciary -- a sign of the caliber of legal talent Trump assembled.
Robert Giuffra Jr., co-chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, now leads the team handling Trump's appeals, and the firm says reinforcements are on the way. A person familiar with the firm's staffing told Politico that Sullivan & Cromwell plans to add partners within the next two weeks, right in time for the filing of Trump's brief in the civil fraud appeal on Aug. 26.
The team is also due to file a brief in October in Trump's appeal of the Manhattan criminal conviction. Giuffra was the sole partner from the firm to sign the July petition asking the Supreme Court to overturn the $83.3 million defamation award in the Carroll case, joined by a junior-level lawyer.
Several members of the original team have taken their talents to new venues. Wall and Morgan Ratner, a top Supreme Court litigator, joined rival firm Gibson Dunn in April, while other lawyers from the original group have been elevated into positions within the administration and the judiciary.
That kind of movement is standard for attorneys at the top of their profession, and it reflects the strength of the bench Trump assembled rather than any weakness in his defense. With Giuffra at the helm and new partners joining, the president heads into the fall appeals season with a deep and experienced team.
The Manhattan case stems from a 2024 conviction on 34 felony counts related to business records, a prosecution brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg that Trump has long argued was a politically motivated effort to damage his 2024 campaign. Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, and his appeal of that conviction is now moving through the courts.
In the civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, the Aug. 26 brief deadline will mark a key milestone, with the firm expected to file with a bolstered roster. The Carroll defamation appeal, meanwhile, is before the Supreme Court after the July petition.
The next few weeks will tell the story. The Aug. 26 filing in the civil fraud appeal comes first, followed by the October brief in the criminal conviction appeal and the Supreme Court's decision on whether to take up the Carroll case.
With new partners being added and Giuffra leading the charge, Trump's legal team is positioned for the fight ahead. Supporters will be watching closely as the appeals unfold, with the potential for major rulings that could reshape the legal landscape around the president.
President Trump's legal team at Sullivan & Cromwell is adding partners as key appeal deadlines approach in the Manhattan, civil fraud, and defamation cases.
freedomlinedispatch.com
