Donald Trump hasn’t paid journalist E. Jean Carroll the combined $88 million he owes after being found liable for sexual abuse and defamation, as the cases are now on appeal. But Carroll’s lawyers are already starting to wrestle over their share of the pie, punctuating a dramatic fallout at the firm this summer.
In letters to the federal judge who oversaw both trials, Carroll’s current and former lawyers have revealed this week that they’re preparing to battle over their portion of the massive judgment. Meanwhile, Carroll has apparently asked both sets of lawyers to cool it for now and wait until Trump actually pays her.
The court docket has now devolved into an internecine fight — with attorneys representing attorneys apologizing to a judge for even bringing this up to his attention.
“We regret having to write this letter,” one communiqué begins. “Ms. Carroll has made it clear to both law firms that she does not want any collateral litigation about attorneys’ fees — at least until such issues are ripe post-appeal.”
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At the center of the back-and-forth is Roberta Kaplan, the high-powered lawyer who has kept Carroll as her client despite leaving her own firm, Kaplan Hecker & Fink, in June “after clashing with her partners over her treatment of colleagues,” per The New York Times. The latest is an early sign that the bad blood could spill over and ultimately draw attention away from what was otherwise seen as a historic case for sexual assault survivors.
“They’re gearing up for a fight that’s coming. It’s going to get ugly,” said one New York attorney familiar with these kinds of legal disputes, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid professional repercussions.
In August, Kaplan notified the federal judge overseeing both Carroll cases that she would continue representing the journalist against Trump through her new firm, Kaplan Martin. The letter included a wrinkle: Her old firm, now named Hecker Fink, was formally laying a claim to the judgments against Trump. After all, one of the lawyers there, Shawn G. Crowley, had played a key role at both trials, delivering searing presentations and asking probing questions of witnesses.
On Tuesday, Crowley asked U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan — no relation to Roberta Kaplan — to approve her “charging lien,” which would allow her to stake out a portion of the judgment. Her letter noted that even Carroll and Kaplan “recognize” it and “do not dispute that Hecker Fink is entitled to assert” one.
But Kaplan immediately countered with a letter of her own, having a lawyer outside her new firm tell the judge to hold off while the case is on appeal.
“There is nothing for this court — or any court — to do at this time,” attorney Steven F. Molo wrote. “Any issues concerning recognition of the charging lien or any amount to which Hecker Fink may be entitled are neither ripe nor justiciable at this time.”
On Wednesday, Crowley once again asked the judge to weigh in — just in case her old boss goes back on her promise. Crowley said an official order would “guard against any potential prejudice caused by a subsequent attempt to change position.”
Neither Kaplan nor Crowley responded to requests for comment Thursday.
New York attorneys who take on these kinds of civil cases typically expect to receive a third of any court victory, according to several lawyers who spoke to NOTUS on background but did not want to be associated with the case. By that math, the figure could come out to roughly $29 million. The exact agreement between Carroll and her attorneys is not public.
Carroll’s high-profile cases already held a unique page in history: Trump was held accountable for attacking the celebrated magazine columnist inside a New York City department store in the 1990s, then misusing his public prominence as president to lie about what happened and ruin her reputation.
In May 2023, jurors found Trump liable for sexual abuse, concluding that he owed Carroll $5 million. Trump continued to disparage and lie about Carroll. At a second trial in January, jurors hit Trump with an $83 million verdict, deciding that only a fine of those proportions could disincentivize him from continuing to defame her.
Kaplan has built a reputation around liberal and feminist causes; she was one of several attorneys who won a $26 million verdict against the leaders of a deadly 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. She also served as chairwoman of Time’s Up, the organization put together by women in Hollywood who sought to expose rampant sexism and abuse in the film industry.
But she resigned from that group in 2021 after New York’s attorney general issued a report that revealed she had been involved in an effort to discredit an alleged female victim of then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Her two subsequent victories over Trump bolstered her profile. After leaving her firm this summer amid allegations that she fostered a toxic work environment, her dealings are coming once again under a microscope.
However, Carroll’s cases are on appeal and could be derailed if Trump wins the presidential election next month. The ongoing fight between Carroll’s current and former lawyers foreshadows another expected stumbling block further down the road.
Although one letter indicated the lien had been “filed,” the document wasn’t available in the court file.
“They want this fight as far from the public docket as can be,” the New York attorney said.
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Jose Pagliery is a reporter at NOTUS.
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