Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally at Ted Hendricks Stadium in Hialeah, Florida, USA on November 8, 2023.
Octavio Jones | Reuters
A New York federal judge on Thursday rejected — at least for now — a law firm’s request to withdraw from representing Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in a discrimination lawsuit filed by former 2016 campaign adviser Arlene “AJ” Delgado.
But Judge Katharine Parker gave the law firm – LaRocca, Hornik, Greenberg, Kittredge, Carlin & McPartland – until Tuesday to provide her with “a more detailed explanation” of its argument that there was an “irreparable breakdown” in its relationship with the Trump campaign, as requested by the Firm to withdraw from representation in this case.
Parker’s ruling came a day after she held a closed meeting with the firm’s lawyers and their clients to discuss the motion to withdraw.
“In this case, defense counsel’s statement is not sufficient to grant a recusal at this time,” Parker wrote in her order Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. “By May 7, 2024, defense counsel must provide a more detailed statement setting out the basis for the deterioration in the attorney-client relationship and allowing the court to assess the application.”
Parker said LaRocca and Hornik would provide their detailed explanation of the revocation request without informing Delgado of its contents to “protect attorney-client privilege.”
She asked the firm to tell her whether the firm was asserting a lien on the campaign for its work and whether each of its clients had agreed to withdraw.
In addition to the Trump campaign, the firm also represents the other defendants in Delgado’s lawsuit: Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and Steve Bannon, all of whom held top positions in the Trump White House.
LaRocca and Hornik told the judge in a court filing last week that there had been “an irreparable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship between the firm and the campaign.”
It is not clear from the file what led to this collapse.
Delgado rejected the motion to withdraw.
Delgado’s lawsuit alleges that he was removed from her responsibilities as an adviser and director of Hispanic outreach for Trump’s campaign in late 2016 and prevented from taking an expected White House job after she was told by a senior Trump campaign adviser to campaign officials be pregnant Jason Miller.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants violated a 2017 agreement to settle their complaint privately for an undisclosed amount of money.
Parker’s order Thursday noted that the Trump campaign, “an entity” — not a person — “may not represent itself.”
“Thus, if the motion to withdraw is granted, the campaign risks default if it does not promptly obtain replacement counsel,” the judge wrote. “This order does not prevent defendants from retaining substitute counsel by filing an agreement to retain counsel prior to the expiration of any of the deadlines set forth herein.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
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2024-05-02 18:22:40
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