Will Big Law Take Back Todd Blanche?
He bet his career on representing Trump, then he lost bigly at the trial of the year.
I’d love to know what’s going on in Todd Blanche’s head.
Fresh from his spectacular loss in Donald Trump’s recent hush money case involving porn star Stormy Daniels, Blanche must be peeing in his pants—at least I would be, if I were in his position.
This is the lawyer who gambled his entire career—abandoning his enviable perch as a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft—for the privilege of representing Donald Trump. (Cadwalader had tolerated his representation of Paul Manafort but drew the line at Trump, reports The New York Times). He also upended his personal life, moving his entire family from New York for the sunny environs of Mar-a-Lago, and switching his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. (Were these conditions of his employment? Or did he undergo some sort of a religious experience?)
Maybe I’m not thinking big, but I don’t see how putting all your eggs in Trump’s basket is a savvy career move. By now, every child knows that lawyers in Trump’s orbit don’t usually end up well. An astounding number of them get disbarred or jailed, or face a mountain of legal woes (e.g., Rudy Giuliani, Michael Cohen, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark), while the craftier ones (e.g., Bill Barr) slither away before it’s too late.
Yet, Blanche must have thought he could beat the odds and emerge triumphant. Except he didn’t. This guy lost bigly–Trump was convicted on all 34 counts—a total wipeout! For all of Blanche’s experience as a fancy Wall Street lawyer and former prosecutor, he fared no better than Trump lawyer Alina Habba whose much-mocked performance during the E. Jean Carroll sexual assault and defamation cases resulted in a whopping $88 million in losses for her star client.
So where does this leave Blanche? Assuming he doesn't want to stay in Trumpworld for the rest of his natural life (he’s only 49, and Trump, 77, can’t live forever), what are his options? Can he go back to Big Law tomorrow?
“I’d say like all of Trump’s lawyers before him, it would make him persona non grata at many firms,” says a business consultant for the legal industry, adding, “but probably fine at the Trumpy ones.” (Note to Blanche: Send your resume to Jones Day!)
Losing weight and getting slaughtered:
Perhaps we’re underestimating Blanche. For one thing, he’s now a brand: The Trump Lawyer. Since the conviction, this once obscure, quiet lawyer has been all over the airwaves, offering little nuggets about the trial—like how he lost eight pounds because he skipped the Big Mac and pizza lunches favored by the Trump team. (A rather mundane detail, IMHO, but the press ate it up.) The point is Blanche is suddenly getting attention. So did he see representing Trump as his ticket to fame and glory?
“Not sure getting slaughtered at trial gives one celebrity status,” sniffs a senior partner at a major litigation firm.
Did he bungle the trial?
Indeed, this trial was for the defense to lose. The prosecution had the burden of proof, and there was no direct evidence tying Trump to the hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, except the word of Michael Cohen, a convicted felon. Plus, the case was convoluted and confusing. Yet, Blanche couldn’t convince one lousy juror that there was reasonable doubt on at least one of the 34 charges?
As former prosecutor Ankush Khardori writes in Politico, “this was probably a winnable case—not in the form of an acquittal perhaps, but in the form of a hung jury.” He adds that the defense missed a key play: “Trump also probably could have gotten off with convictions on misdemeanor counts of falsifying his company’s business records instead of felonies, but he never asked the judge to instruct the jurors on that point.” Khardori’s assessment: “Trump and his lawyers bungled this trial.”
But Blanche has his defenders. “He is a quality lawyer [who] did his best to make a good record,” says a prominent New York trial lawyer. “You work with what you have,” adding that Trump “is a difficult client . . . [you] can’t blame the lawyers for that.”
My client made me do it:
Blanche is signaling that very message. When CNN’s Kaitlin Collins asked him whether it was he or Trump who “ultimately was in charge of the defense strategy,” he leaped to respond: “It was the both of us.” Subtext: I didn’t want to do the stupid stuff but my client insisted.
So far, Trump has not publicly turned on Blanche. In fact, Blanche is working on the appeal for this case, plus the government documents case in Florida and the Washington case concerning Trump’s alleged effort to overturn the 2020 election. Most immediately, he’s petitioning the court to lift the gag order imposed on Trump by Judge Juan Merchan, who forbade the former president from making comments about witnesses and jurors. (News flash: Co-counsel Susan Necheles seems to be out of Team Trump, as her name did not appear on the petition.)
Blanche is also very busy kissing up to Trump. Lately, he’s been lionizing him as some kind of deep thinker misunderstood by the public. Remember all those times when observers saw Trump sleeping in court? Well, Blanche says that wasn’t true. “His eyes would be closed, but he would be concentrating,” Blanche explained on a podcast. And Blanche expressed awe at the way Trump reacted to the verdict, portraying the former president as a model of forbearance: “He just stood there and kind of took it,” Blanche told The Associated Press. “And I think had a lot of appropriate solemnness for the moment that made me very proud to be sitting next to him.”
You’d think Blanche was referring to some archetypal Greek warrior. It’s a bit grandiose (and pukey) but Blanche knows you can never lay it on thick enough for his numero uno client.
The last laugh:
Blanche is making a big career gamble but he could have the last laugh. With Trump’s victory in November being a distinct possibility, Blanche could turn out to be the man of the hour.
“He probably thinks that win or lose he will have a plum job in the Trump Administration,” says a former Big Law litigation partner. “As far as law firms go, he’s probably toxic to some but if he can bring in work—one would assume right wing work—firms will hire him based on economics alone.”
“He can find a place in Big Law,” predicts the litigator who thought Blanche delivered a solid performance in this trial. “There are a few firms that very much lean Trump’s way, and many of the big firms are hedging their bets for November.”
The lesson: For those with a direct line to power (or a tidy book of business), redemption is always possible. Who says Big Law doesn’t have a heart?
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