Legal experts skewered Alina Habba’s “comedy of bumbling errors” in Trump defamation trial
Former President Donald Trump’s appeal of the $83.3 million verdict in the defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll is unlikely to succeed, legal experts say.
“Let me ruin the suspense for everyone. Trump doesn’t have an appeal,” Nashville lawyer Brian Manookian argued Friday. “I know the talking heads on TV who have never tried a case or appealed a jury verdict have to mention it. Here’s why it isn’t going to fly.”
A person must “preserve a reversible error at the trial level” in order to have a case with merit on appeal, Manookian explained, ultimately blaming Trump’s lack thereof on his legal team in the case.
“This is why you hire competent counsel. You need someone who actually knows the rules of evidence and procedure,” he said. “Alina Habba had no clue what was occurring throughout the trial. She not only failed to preserve any remote grounds for appeal, like a moron, she repeatedly and unintentionally waived them over and over.”
Male lawyers still wear carefully tailored business suits even when the rest of the business world has gone more casual. Female lawyers likewise tend to wear a higher level of business attire than typical in other office environments.
Language is also more formal; I had jury duty once, and the defense lawyer mentioned his client by first name. The judge reminded him that they address people formally by last name in court. (That guy came off like a relatively new lawyer working his way up in the public defender system; Trump would probably be better off hiring him than anybody he’s actually getting, but that guy is also probably smart enough not to.)
How lawyers present themselves in court and in front of clients is very important. A gaming laptop with unicorn puke RGB is not a good look.