Entropy rules the universe, no matter how closely you flirt with authoritarians.
Once upon a time, Marc Kasowitz and Eric Herschmann were partners at Kasowitz’s eponymous firm. Now Herschmann is suing Kasowitz seeking “millions” in unpaid compensation and alleging a pattern of financial mismanagement. Then Donald Trump decided to enter politics and everything fell apart as these two decided to hitch their wagons to his sundowning star.
Back in 2017, Trump sauntered into office convinced that his longtime real estate litigator could serve as his White House consigliere. It did not go well. Between the ethics complaints and diplomatic blunders, Kasowitz retreated from the presidential power. Toward the end of Trump’s first term, while the boss told Americans to consider injecting themselves with Lysol and horse dewormers, Eric Herschmann decided to take his turn in the Trump orbit. He showed up just in time to be with Trump on January 6 — oops — but embarked on a reasonably successful rehabilitation effort as someone out there kept telling the press amusing anecdotes about him bluntly clowning on the most decidedly clownish Trump lawyers.
Most of America remembers Herschmann for his genuinely eloquent advice that Coup4Dummies lawyer John Eastman needed to “get a great f***ing criminal defense lawyer.”
While both Kasowitz and Herschmann once reached for the stars with their proximity to power, they are now barely remembered among Trump’s cast of supporting characters. But brash, litigious egos are a feature that Trump selects for in his lawyers, meaning it was only a matter of time before they earned a chaotic post-credits scene in the Trump Cinematic Universe.
As the New York Law Journal explains:
“The complaint claims that Kasowitz overextended the firm’s finances by promised lucrative compensation guarantees to lateral partners, who then failed to generate enough business. Herschmann also alleges the firm began offering ‘heavily discounted hourly fee rates’ to induce important clients not to switch representation.”
Herschmann claims that he didn’t know about this at the time and was “induced” to return to the firm after his January 6 misadventures “by claims of financial stability,” and that he wouldn’t have come back if he had a better sense of its financial state.
“Kasowitz would use the firm’s profits to pay off most or all of the bank debt by the end of each year, which left grossly insufficient profits to pay the partner distributions Kasowitz wished to pay to keep partners from leaving the firm,” the lawsuit claimed. “To cover up these financial problems, Kasowitz then secretly went into further debt.”
For a story that’s only tangentially about Trump, there are a lot of allegations that would be right at home in a story about running an Atlantic City casino into the ground. Or, for that matter, in a story about the current federal budget under Trump.
In a lengthy statement, a Kasowitz spokesperson said the lawsuit was “written for the media, not for the court.”
“As Mr. Herschmann is well aware, any dispute concerning the firm is subject to confidential arbitration,” the statement said. “For 30 years, Mr. Herschmann was paid extraordinarily well for relatively few billable hours and small amounts of business. In a case of ‘no good deed goes unpunished,’ when his outrageous compensation demands near the end of his career were not met, he decided to file a thoroughly false public pleading violating, among other things, the partnership agreement’s confidential arbitration requirement. Our filings will address Mr. Herschmann’s frivolous claims, and his own conduct as a partner in the firm.”
“Mr. Herschmann was paid extraordinarily well for relatively few billable hours and small amounts of business.” Speaking of Trump parallels, the firm couldn’t get through its statement without hurling a random insult Herschmann’s way. If he brought in enough business to get paid more under his agreement, it doesn’t really matter if the firm wants to claim they were just being generous. The response begins by accusing Herschmann of playing to the media… and immediately pivots to yeah, and he sucks too! I mean, what are we doing here, people?
But it allows the firm to inject a little bit more Trump-branded chaos into the proceedings. No wonder he liked these guys.
Marc Kasowitz, Kasowitz Sued Over Alleged Unpaid Wages, Financial Mismangment [New York Law Journal]
Earlier: Oh Look, It’s A Former Biglaw Partner Hanging Out With Trump Before The Capitol Riot!
Axios Story Confirms That Trump Lawyers REALLY Want To Be Able To Re-Enter Polite Society
Everyone Thought John Eastman Was Crazy And Just Kind Of… Let Him Do It Anyway
Trump White House Lawyer Eric Herschmann Called BS On Trump’s Personal Lawyers
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
The post Trump Lawyer Fight Club: Marc Kasowitz Sued By Former Partner Eric Herschmann appeared first on Above the Law.
Entropy rules the universe, no matter how closely you flirt with authoritarians.
Once upon a time, Marc Kasowitz and Eric Herschmann were partners at Kasowitz’s eponymous firm. Now Herschmann is suing Kasowitz seeking “millions” in unpaid compensation and alleging a pattern of financial mismanagement. Then Donald Trump decided to enter politics and everything fell apart as these two decided to hitch their wagons to his sundowning star.
Back in 2017, Trump sauntered into office convinced that his longtime real estate litigator could serve as his White House consigliere. It did not go well. Between the ethics complaints and diplomatic blunders, Kasowitz retreated from the presidential power. Toward the end of Trump’s first term, while the boss told Americans to consider injecting themselves with Lysol and horse dewormers, Eric Herschmann decided to take his turn in the Trump orbit. He showed up just in time to be with Trump on January 6 — oops — but embarked on a reasonably successful rehabilitation effort as someone out there kept telling the press amusing anecdotes about him bluntly clowning on the most decidedly clownish Trump lawyers.
Most of America remembers Herschmann for his genuinely eloquent advice that Coup4Dummies lawyer John Eastman needed to “get a great f***ing criminal defense lawyer.”
While both Kasowitz and Herschmann once reached for the stars with their proximity to power, they are now barely remembered among Trump’s cast of supporting characters. But brash, litigious egos are a feature that Trump selects for in his lawyers, meaning it was only a matter of time before they earned a chaotic post-credits scene in the Trump Cinematic Universe.
As the New York Law Journal explains:
“The complaint claims that Kasowitz overextended the firm’s finances by promised lucrative compensation guarantees to lateral partners, who then failed to generate enough business. Herschmann also alleges the firm began offering ‘heavily discounted hourly fee rates’ to induce important clients not to switch representation.”
Herschmann claims that he didn’t know about this at the time and was “induced” to return to the firm after his January 6 misadventures “by claims of financial stability,” and that he wouldn’t have come back if he had a better sense of its financial state.
“Kasowitz would use the firm’s profits to pay off most or all of the bank debt by the end of each year, which left grossly insufficient profits to pay the partner distributions Kasowitz wished to pay to keep partners from leaving the firm,” the lawsuit claimed. “To cover up these financial problems, Kasowitz then secretly went into further debt.”
For a story that’s only tangentially about Trump, there are a lot of allegations that would be right at home in a story about running an Atlantic City casino into the ground. Or, for that matter, in a story about the current federal budget under Trump.
In a lengthy statement, a Kasowitz spokesperson said the lawsuit was “written for the media, not for the court.”
“As Mr. Herschmann is well aware, any dispute concerning the firm is subject to confidential arbitration,” the statement said. “For 30 years, Mr. Herschmann was paid extraordinarily well for relatively few billable hours and small amounts of business. In a case of ‘no good deed goes unpunished,’ when his outrageous compensation demands near the end of his career were not met, he decided to file a thoroughly false public pleading violating, among other things, the partnership agreement’s confidential arbitration requirement. Our filings will address Mr. Herschmann’s frivolous claims, and his own conduct as a partner in the firm.”
“Mr. Herschmann was paid extraordinarily well for relatively few billable hours and small amounts of business.” Speaking of Trump parallels, the firm couldn’t get through its statement without hurling a random insult Herschmann’s way. If he brought in enough business to get paid more under his agreement, it doesn’t really matter if the firm wants to claim they were just being generous. The response begins by accusing Herschmann of playing to the media… and immediately pivots to yeah, and he sucks too! I mean, what are we doing here, people?
But it allows the firm to inject a little bit more Trump-branded chaos into the proceedings. No wonder he liked these guys.
Marc Kasowitz, Kasowitz Sued Over Alleged Unpaid Wages, Financial Mismangment [New York Law Journal]
Earlier: Oh Look, It’s A Former Biglaw Partner Hanging Out With Trump Before The Capitol Riot!
Axios Story Confirms That Trump Lawyers REALLY Want To Be Able To Re-Enter Polite Society
Everyone Thought John Eastman Was Crazy And Just Kind Of… Let Him Do It Anyway
Trump White House Lawyer Eric Herschmann Called BS On Trump’s Personal Lawyers
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
