Donald Trump’s lawyers will use an “unconscionable” and previously unknown “conflict of interest” between lawyer E. Jean Carroll and the judge presiding over his defamation case against the former president as the basis of their appeal to throw away an eye-watering $83.3 million. jury verdict, The Post has learned.
Trump attorney Alina Habba said she was unaware Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan and Carroll attorney Roberta Kaplan worked together in the early 1990s at the same white-shoe law firm until Saturday, when asked about it by Post columnist Charles Gasparino, who was told by sources that the judge used to be Roberta Kaplan’s “mentor”.
“It was never disclosed. It’s insane and very disjointed,” Habba said, asserting that neither the 79-year-old judge nor Roberta Kaplan, 57, who is unrelated, disclosed “conflicts of interest” and violations of judicial ethics rules.
Donald Trump’s lawyers will use a previously unknown “conflict of interest” to appeal the $83.3 million verdict. Reuters
Roberta Kaplan worked at Paul, Weiss Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison in Midtown from 1992 to 2016, before leaving to become a founding partner of Kaplan Hecker & Fink, according to her LinkedIn page.
“This is news to us,” he continued. “We will include this in our appeal and take appropriate action. The fact that it was not disclosed is a breach of ethics.”
During his early years at Paul Weiss, he worked as an associate at the firm at the same time as Judge Kaplan, who was a partner there until 1994 when he was appointed to the federal bench by then-President Bill Clinton.
Zak Sawyer, Roberta Kaplan’s representative, insists no conflict exists.
Sketch of US District Judge Lewis Kaplan’s courtroom. Reuters
“They overlapped for less than two years in the early 1990s at a big law firm when he was a senior partner and she was a junior associate and he never worked for her,” said Sawyer, who declined to comment further.
But former partner Paul Weiss, who declined to be named, said that like all associates at the firm, Roberta Kaplan did her best to distinguish herself before partners, including Lewis Kaplan.
“Lew was like his mentor,” claimed the former couple.
Messages left with Judge Kaplan’s chambers and a representative for Paul Weiss were not returned Saturday.
E. Jean Carroll left federal court Friday after a jury ruled in her favor. ZUMAPRESS.com
Trump was previously ordered to pay Carroll $5 million in May after a jury found him liable for abusing him in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room in 1996.
On Friday, Judge Kaplan oversaw the $83.3 million judgment awarded to Carroll in Manhattan federal court by a jury of five men and four women.
A jury found Trump liable for defaming Carroll in 2019 when he dismissed her sexual assault allegations as a “hoax” and called it an “abusive job”.
Trump’s attorney Alina Habba spoke to the media outside court in November. AP
Some legal experts have questioned the size of the award because it’s unclear how much financial damage Trump caused Carroll.
Following Friday’s ruling, Trump vowed to appeal both decisions.
“It’s ridiculous!” he railed against Truth Social. “I completely disagree with both decisions, and will appeal the entire Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party. Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon.”
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