The high-profile legal defense team representing President Donald Trump at Sullivan and Cromwell has undergone significant changes. When the firm first took on the cases last year, the team consisted of five partners, including former Supreme Court clerks and a former acting solicitor general. Currently, four of those five original members have left the firm. Some departures resulted from presidential appointments to the administration or the judiciary, while others moved to rival law firms.
This shift leaves Robert Giuffra Jr., a co-chair at Sullivan and Cromwell, as the sole partner leading the defense for multiple major legal matters. These cases include an appeal regarding a criminal conviction in a Manhattan hush money case, an appeal of a civil fraud judgment, and a challenge to an 83.3 million dollar defamation award involving E. Jean Carroll.
Legal observers note that managing these three high-stakes appeals alone presents a heavy workload for a single partner who also maintains other client responsibilities. Sources familiar with the firm's staffing indicate that additional partners are expected to join the defense team within the next two weeks. New assignments are intended to be in place before upcoming filing deadlines, specifically regarding the civil fraud appeal and the criminal conviction appeal later this year.
The initial recruitment of such an elite firm marked a notable development in the president's legal strategy, moving toward representation that had historically been difficult to secure. While previous legal teams faced professional setbacks due to their association with the former president, the current departures from Sullivan and Cromwell involve career advancements or standard lateral moves. The firm remains central to the ongoing appeals process as the legal calendar advances through the remainder of the year.