Greenberg Traurig's Giuliani takes leave from firm to join Donald Trump's legal team
Former New York mayor to serve as personal lawyer to US President
April 19, 2018 at 05:54 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. (Photo: Jeff Siner)
Greenberg Traurig partner Rudy Giuliani is joining US President Donald Trump's legal team in the special counsel investigation, leading to another leave of absence from his firm.
"Mr Giuliani is taking a leave of absence, effective today, for an unspecified period of time to handle matters unrelated to the law firm or its clients," said Richard Rosenbaum, executive chairman of Greenberg Traurig, in a statement.
Several news reports on Thursday afternoon cited interviews, including with Giuliani himself, confirming his plans to join Trump's legal team as part of the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller related to Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
Giuliani would join Jay Sekulow and former Hogan Lovells partner Ty Cobb in representing Trump. According to several media reports, Jane Serene Raskin and Marty Raskin, a couple who run a Florida-based law firm, would also be joining the Trump team.
Many lawyers at top US firms have declined offers to join the president's legal team, including prominent partners at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Winston & Strawn. Last month, former Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld partner John Dowd resigned from his role on Trump's lineup.
In late 2016, Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor and New York City mayor, took a leave of absence to work on the Trump election campaign before returning to the firm.
Earlier that year he had left the firm he founded, Bracewell & Giuliani, to join Greenberg as global chair of its cybersecurity and crisis management practice. Bracewell subsequently rebranded to remove his name from the firm's masthead.
In a statement issued by Sekulow and appearing in news reports, Trump said "Rudy is great" and has been in his friend "for a long time and wants to get this matter quickly resolved for the good of the country".
According to Sekulow's statement, Giuliani said it is "an honour to be a part of such an important legal team, and I look forward to not only working with the President but with Jay, Ty, and their colleagues".
In a Washington Post interview, Giuliani said he has been speaking with Trump for weeks about joining.
Giuliani, a former US Attorney of the Southern District of New York from 1983 to 1989, has been law firm colleagues with another US attorney, Geoffrey Berman, who left Greenberg to become the top Manhattan federal prosecutor in January. Trump personally interviewed Berman for the role, according to media reports.
Less than two weeks ago, the US attorney's office in the Southern District raided the home and office of Michael Cohen, a longtime personal lawyer for Trump. Shortly after, it was revealed that Berman had recused himself from the Cohen investigation. Deputy US attorney Robert Khuzami, a former Kirkland & Ellis partner, is now in charge of the investigation, court documents show.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
X-odus: Why Germany’s Federal Court of Justice and Others Are Leaving X
Threat of Trump Tariffs Is Sign Canada Needs to Wean Off Reliance on Trade with U.S., Trade Lawyers Say
5 minute read
UK Sanctions Regime Put to the Test as Supreme Court Hears First ‘De-Designation’ Case Brought by Billionaire
Trending Stories
- 128 Firms Supporting Retired Barnes & Thornburg Litigator in Georgia Supreme Court Malpractice Case
- 2Boosting Litigation and Employee Benefits Practices, Two Am Law 100 Firms Grow in Pittsburgh
- 3EMT Qualifies as 'Health Care Provider' Under Whistleblower Act, State Appellate Court Rules
- 4Bar Report - Feb. 3
- 5Was $1.3M in 'Incentive' Payments Commission? NJ Justices Weigh Arguments
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
