Elite Law Firm in Civil War Over Trump Sex Abuse Case

[LetMyPeopleVote]

I used to practice at a couple of large regional firms and one national firm. My oldest child is now at one of the largest law firms in the nation. I have worked on a good number of deals with "white-shoe" national law firms. Sullivan & Cromwell is one of the classic "white-shoe" law firms. I am sad and disappointed that Sullivan & Cromwell is representing trump in the Carroll and other matters.

Sullivan and Cromwell. New York.

They're shoulders-deep in the shit swamp of the pedo prezpig.

Hopefully some independent journos/media will be willing to investigate further.

www.thedailybeast.com/elite-law-fi...

— Dr. René MD 🇺🇸🩺 (@drrenemd.bsky.social) 2026-07-10T13:00:38.486Z

https://www.thedailybeast.com/elite-law-firm-sullivan-cromwell-in-civil-war-over-trumps-e-jean-carroll-sex-abuse-case

A civil war has broken out among partners at an elite law firm over its work for Donald Trump on a sex abuse case.

Sullivan & Cromwell, a multinational legal powerhouse headquartered in New York City, is helping the 80-year-old president prepare a request for the Supreme Court to review an earlier ruling on a lawsuit brought against him by E. Jean Carroll, 82, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The move has sparked uproar among the firm’s top ranks. “The Carroll cases were of particular concern for some lawyers because of the nature of Carroll’s allegations,” the newspaper writes, adding that firms of this size “rarely take on such cases for fear of reputational damage.”.....

Trump appealed the sexual abuse verdict in 2025 and lost that September. He then asked the Supreme Court to review the case. It declined in June. He has now hired Sullivan & Cromwell to ask for a SCOTUS review of the defamation verdict. That work has come even though the Journal’s sources say the firm’s co-chairman, Robert Giuffra, 66, promised partners the firm would not touch the Carroll cases.....

The co-chairman appears to have taken the work on at the urging of Trump’s personal attorney, Boris Epshteyn, 43. Some partners, the Journal reports, have “complained to colleagues and people outside the firm about a lack of transparency from Sullivan & Cromwell’s leadership regarding the firm’s work for the president.” Others have apparently lamented that the firm risks becoming a “one-stop shop for Trump’s highest-profile personal legal matters.”

Deadline White House had a segment on Sullivan & Cromwell representing trump yesterday. I was surprised to see this white shoe firm representing trump in the Carroll matter.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Sullivan & Cromwell Partners Are Big Mad About The Firm's Latest Trump Representation

I am amused to see that a civil war is breaking out at Sullivan & Cromwell

“Something’s going down at Sullivan & Cromwell. The Wall Street Journal has confirmed the rumors swirling around Biglaw that there’s a civil war brewing at Sullivan & Cromwell over just how far the firm should go for its most famous—and most toxic—client.”

— George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 (@gtconway.bsky.social) 2026-07-10T17:04:09.252Z

https://abovethelaw.com/2026/07/sullivan-cromwell-partners-are-big-mad-about-the-firms-latest-trump-representation/

Something’s going down at Sullivan & Cromwell. The Wall Street Journal has confirmed the rumors swirling around Biglaw that there’s a civil war brewing at Sullivan & Cromwell over just how far the firm should go for its most famous — and most toxic — client.

When S&C took Donald Trump on as a client last year, Bob Giuffra reportedly drew a red line for the partnership. The firm would handle Trump’s criminal appeal over the falsified business records conviction, and it would handle his appeal of the civil fraud judgment. But the Carroll cases — where a jury found Trump sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll — were, Giuffra assured partners, off limits.

Well, about that line in the sand… apparently it is gone. According to the Journal, S&C has quietly stepped in to help Trump prepare a Supreme Court petition seeking review of the $83 million defamation verdict (separate from the $5 million verdict SCOTUS already declined to touch). Giuffra himself is reportedly among the S&C lawyers doing the work.....

The firm has reportedly told lawyers not to talk to the press about the Trump work and to flag any reporter outreach — and, more recently, has warned that those caught leaking risk getting shown the door.

We’ve tracked S&C’s steadily deepening entanglement with this White House for over a year now — the Paul Weiss deal-brokering, the ethics questions about Giuffra’s role, the government jobs flowing to S&C alumni, and the discomfort S&C partners have had with this client since January 2025. What’s new is that the firm’s red line on the Trump representation was apparently drawn in pencil.

This will be a fun fight to watch