Donald Trump Files Lawsuit Against Law Firm Over Legal Fees
Donald Trump is in the news once again. This time he is suing Manhattan law firm Morrison Cohen LLP and his lawyer who represented him in a malpractice suit, saying that the law firm has treated him like a “cash cow†by overcharging him and performing unnecessary work in order to bill more hours and therefore handing him what he feels is a huge legal bill. Mr. Trump is claiming he has enough experience in dealing with lawyers and feels that he knows when he’s been overcharged on legal fees. This time he feels that the legal fees quoted are not fair and a malpractice suit is in order. Trump, who has said that he has already paid Morrison Cohen $1 million in legal fees, is asking for $3 million in damages in his malpractice suit.
“I have dealt with a lot of lawyers and paid a lot of legal fees,†says Mr. Trump. “I have a Ph.D. in legal fees. I know when fees are fair and when they are not.â€
Overview of the Legal Battle
Morrison Cohen’s David Scharf was hired by Trump last year to represent him in a suit against a golf course contractor, who Trump felt overcharged him for the service. They won the case and Justice Kenneth M. Rudolph who handled the case, awarded Trump almost $2 million in damages for the earth-moving contract and about $40,000 for the infrastructure. In addition, $1.3 million was also awarded for attorney’s fees. Despite the success of the malpractice suit, Trump feels that Morrison Cohen should have advised him not to pursue the infrastructure claims since it would certainly incur more cost and would outweigh any recovery. He said that most of their conversations were centered on legal fees and very little was discussed about the merit of the case.
“Ninety percent of the conversations I had with David Scharf were about legal fees, not the case,” said Trump. “We won the case because I’m a great witness.”
On the other hand, David Scharf maintains that the infrastructure issue was an integral part of the success of the case, and that it was necessary because the defendant has raised the issue. Scharf said that Trump was using his popularity as a negotiating tactic to get a discount because of the successful outcome of the case. Scharf also believes that his firm fairly billed Mr. Trump for the services rendered. They have counterclaimed for $470,000 in legal fees that they say remains unpaid.
This isn’t the first time Donald Trump has faced off against Morrison Cohen. Robert S. Cohen, the firm’s co-founder, represented Ivana Trump when she divorced from Mr. Trump in 1991.
“I beat him too,” said Mr. Trump, referring to attorney Robert S. Cohen’s attempt to bypass the Trump’s prenuptial agreement.
Donald Trump is represented in his malpractice suit by Alfred Donnellan of Delbello Donnellan Weingarten & Wiederkehr in White Plains, N.Y.
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Donald Trump is an ass. Aren’t his 15 minutes up by an hour?
Obviously, you never hired an attorney.
Attorneys and the legal system are corrupt.
I hired an atty. back in 2006. My atty. misled me, lied refused to disclose case information. Would not disclose settlement offered to Plaintiff even when I requested in writing. His response was that it was already sent out. Then he called me to state everyone was in agreement. Never contacted me to state otherwise.
Billed me for case conferences. When asked him what they were for, cited that the Plaintiff didn’t accept the offer. Again I asked him what was offered. Flat out refuses to tell me. Just that the equipment didn’t fit the plantiffs space and that the plaintiff didn’t know what he wanted.
Nothing my atty. stated made any sense. I contacted the Plaintiff and asked why he refused the offer.
His response. “What Offer?”
Two years of attorney billing over an offer and the Plaintiff tells me he never received any offer.
Billed for approx SIX conferences (2-3hrs each). Court Documents show one conference billed but not on record, another one billed for with opposing counsel as a no show. Who my atty. met with and argued with that day is beyond me.
Each Conference sheet COMPLETELY BLANK.
Two Attorney’s and a Judge Sitting at a conference table and no record on what the conference was about or what was discussed.
ATTY & COURT SYSTEM IS CORRUPT, The Courts “Aid & Abet”
> Atty Request for the settlement offer made, went ignored.
>Atty Request for copy of opposing counsel’s rejection to offer made – ignored
>Atty Credit for conference paid for but not on record ignored.
Forget about the FL BAR, my former atty lied to the BAR. I provided documentation to expose his lies but the FL. BAR just cited that it was a “Billing Issue”.
Now my attorney is suing me.
I have no more money to hire another attorney. The court says I cannot represent myself.