S&C’s Bob Giuffra Put His Name On The Trump SCOTUS Petition He Was Going To Stay Away From

Earlier this month, we reported on the Wall Street Journal’s scoop that Sullivan & Cromwell had crossed Bob Giuffra’s own self-drawn line and quietly waded into the E. Jean Carroll litigation, we now have the receipts in the most literal sense possible because Giuffra’s name is on the petition itself.

On Tuesday, Trump’s legal team filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to toss the $83.3 million defamation verdict Carroll won against him in 2024 — the second, larger of her two jury verdicts, and a different case entirely from the $5 million sexual abuse verdict SCOTUS already declined to touch back in June. The petition is signed by Giuffra and associate Maxwell F. Gottschall (as well as Michael Martinich-Sauter of the James Otis Law Group). Which is proof — on the docket — that S&C is well over the red line Giuffra assured his partners of when first taking Donald Trump on as a client (the Trump representation was reportedly supposed to be limited to the criminal appeal over the falsified business records conviction and his appeal of the civil fraud judgment). And it’s not a great look.

For a firm reportedly in the middle of a partner revolt over exactly this representation — gag orders and all — putting the co-chair’s signature on the filing is a strange way to lower the temperature. If anything, it settles the “how involved is S&C, really” question partners were reportedly stewing over, making it very clear and on the record. Remember, from jump S&C partners were uncomfortable with representing Trump at all, and reportedly were assured that at least the firm wouldn’t be involved in the sexual abuse and defamation cases brought by Carroll. And those assurances aged like whole milk in the sun.

We’ll be watching to see whether the Court even takes this one up… and to monitor how S&C’s internal peace process fares.

Earlier this month, we reported on the Wall Street Journal’s scoop that Sullivan & Cromwell had crossed Bob Giuffra’s own self-drawn line and quietly waded into the E. Jean Carroll litigation, we now have the receipts in the most literal sense possible because Giuffra’s name is on the petition itself.

On Tuesday, Trump’s legal team filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to toss the $83.3 million defamation verdict Carroll won against him in 2024 — the second, larger of her two jury verdicts, and a different case entirely from the $5 million sexual abuse verdict SCOTUS already declined to touch back in June. The petition is signed by Giuffra and associate Maxwell F. Gottschall (as well as Michael Martinich-Sauter of the James Otis Law Group). Which is proof — on the docket — that S&C is well over the red line Giuffra assured his partners of when first taking Donald Trump on as a client (the Trump representation was reportedly supposed to be limited to the criminal appeal over the falsified business records conviction and his appeal of the civil fraud judgment). And it’s not a great look.

For a firm reportedly in the middle of a partner revolt over exactly this representation — gag orders and all — putting the co-chair’s signature on the filing is a strange way to lower the temperature. If anything, it settles the “how involved is S&C, really” question partners were reportedly stewing over, making it very clear and on the record. Remember, from jump S&C partners were uncomfortable with representing Trump at all, and reportedly were assured that at least the firm wouldn’t be involved in the sexual abuse and defamation cases brought by Carroll. And those assurances aged like whole milk in the sun.

We’ll be watching to see whether the Court even takes this one up… and to monitor how S&C’s internal peace process fares.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1