Trump campaign lawyers can’t quit workplace discrimination case for now, judge rules

A

New
York
federal
judge
on
Thursday
rejected
—
for
now,
at
least
—
a

request
by
a
law
firm
to
withdraw
from
representing
the
presidential
campaign
of

Donald
Trump
in
a
discrimination
lawsuit
by
former
2016
campaign
advisor

Arlene “A.J.”
Delgado.

But
Magistrate
Judge
Katharine
Parker
gave
the
law
firm
—
LaRocca,
Hornik,
Greenberg,
Kittredge,
Carlin
&
McPartland
—
until
Tuesday
to
submit
to
her “a
more
detailed
explanation”
of
its
argument
that
a “irreparable
breakdown”
of
its
relationship
with
the
Trump
campaign
required
the
firm
to
withdraw
from
representing
it
in
the
case.

Parker’s
ruling
came
a
day
after
she
held
a
closed-door
meeting
with
lawyers
from
the
firm
and
with
their
clients
to
discuss
the
withdrawal
request.

“In
this
case,
defense
counsel’s
declaration
is
insufficient
to
grant
withdrawal
at
this
time,”
Parker
wrote
in
her
order
Thursday
in
U.S.
District
Court
in
Manhattan. “By
May
7,
2024,
defense
counsel
shall
submit
a
more
detailed
declaration
setting
forth
the
basis
for
the
deterioration
in
the
attorney-client
relationship
sufficient
for
the
Court
to
evaluate
the
motion.”

Parker
said
that
LaRocca,
Hornik
would
submit
its
detailed
explanation
of
the
withdrawal
request
without
informing
Delgado
of
its
contents
to “protect
attorney-client
privilege.”

She
told
LaRocca,
Hornik
to
tell
her
if
it
was
asserting
a
lien
on
the
campaign
for
its
work,
and
whether
each
of
its
clients
consented
to
the
withdrawal.

In
addition
to
the
Trump
campaign,
the
firm
represents
the
other
defendants
in
Delgado’s
suit:
Reince
Priebus,
Sean
Spicer
and
Steve
Bannon,
all
of
whom
held
top
positions
in
the
Trump
White
House.

LaRocca,
Hornik,
in
a
court
filing
last
week,
told
Parker
there
had
been “an
irreparable
breakdown
in
the
attorney-client
relationship
between
the
Firm
and
the
Campaign.”

The
filing
did
not
reveal
what
led
to
that
breakdown.

Delgado
opposed
the
withdrawal
request.

Delgado’s
suit
claims
that
he
was
stripped
of
her
responsibilities
as
advisor
and
director
of
Hispanic
outreach
for
Trump’s
campaign
in
late
2016,
and
prevented
from
taking
an
expected
job
in
the
White
House,
after
she
told
campaign
officials
that
she
was
pregnant
by
senior
Trump
campaign
advisor
Jason
Miller.

Miller,
who
was
married
to
another
woman,
in
2017
confirmed
that
the
son
Delgado
had
that
year
was
his.

The
suit
alleges
the
defendants
reneged
on
an
agreement
in
2017
to
privately
settle
her
complaint
for
an
undisclosed
amount
of
money.

Parker’s
order
Thursday
noted
that
because
the
Trump
campaign “is
an
entity”
—
not
a
person
— “it
may
not
represent
itself.”

“Thus,
if
the
motion
to
withdraw
is
granted,
the
Campaign
will
be
at
risk
of
default
if
it
does
not
promptly
obtain
substitute
counsel,”
the
judge
wrote. “This
order
does
not
preclude
defendants
from
moving
to
substitute
counsel
by
submitting
a
stipulation
of
substitution
of
counsel
before
any
of
the
deadlines
set
forth
herein.”

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