Crime

Report: McDermott Will & Emery Is Done With Michael Cohen

Is Cohen about to flip? Or is he just broke now?

By
on

He looks lonely, doesn’t he? (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images)

On ABC News, George Stephanapolous is reporting that longtime Trump fixer Michael Cohen needs a new lawyer.

Cohen is under investigation for a host of potential crimes. So far, he has been represented by Stephen Ryan of McDermott Will & Emery. Apparently, that representation is at an end:

As attorneys for Michael Cohen rush to meet Judge Kimba Wood’s Friday deadline to complete a privilege review of over 3.7 million documents seized in the April 9 raids of Cohen’s New York properties and law office, a source representing this matter has disclosed to ABC News that the law firm handling the case for Cohen is not expected to represent him going forward…

Cohen, now with no legal representation, is likely to cooperate with federal prosecutors in New York, sources said. This development, which is believed to be imminent, will likely hit the White House, family members, staffers and counsels hard.

It’s certainly possible that Cohen is preparing to cooperate with investigators, and so a firm like McDermott Will & Emery is no longer needed. Cohen will still need a lawyer, even if he chooses to cooperate, but not one as expensive or august as the lawyers at MWE.

That’s actually the nicest possible spin on the move.

Another entirely possible scenario is that Cohen is broke and can no longer afford a prestigious firm like McDermott. I mean, it’s not like MWE is representing Cohen pro bono. The payment Cohen allegedly made to Stormy Daniels — for which he allegedly borrowed against his house to pay — is chump change compared to Cohen’s mounting legal bills. Remember, McDermott attorneys have had less than three months to review 3.7 million documents seized from Cohen’s offices. It’s doable, but very expensive. We’ve already seen the bills from Barbara Jones, the special master in charge of reviewing potentially privileged documents. I promise you MWE is not giving Cohen a discount.

Sponsored

Here’s another theory. It’s wishful thinking, but maybe McDermott is embarrassed and no longer wants to be associated with Trump world. Remember, Jones Day — the law firm most closely associated with Donald Trump’s shenanigans — has taken a massive reputational hit. The next generation of lawyers is watching, and being in charge of making bad legal arguments for a despised bigot who happens to be president is no fun.

McDermott has been off to the side. Their people are not in the actual administration, as Jones Day’s Don McGahn is. Their representation of Cohen is adjacent to the Mueller probe, as opposed to directly in its line of fire.

But still, now that they’ve seen the documents the government is about to have on Cohen… maybe this is a good time for the firm to get out. There are plenty of wealthy white-collar criminals out there to represent who won’t make the firm look as bad.

Or maybe Cohen is going to represent himself going forward. He appears to be a very bad attorney, and nothing says “bad lawyer” more than representing yourself when you are a target of a massive federal investigation.

I think the first answer is still the most likely. McDermott is out. Cohen is about to turn over the state’s evidence. Donald Trump Tweetstorm in 3…2…1…

Sponsored

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen likely to cooperate as his attorneys leave case, sources say [ABC News]

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

Topics

, , , ,