Meet the Seyfarth Lawyer in Trump's Restaurant Suits

Woods (left) filed suit for the Trump Old Post Office LLC last week against Andrés and on Monday against Zakarian. The complaints allege breach of contract over deals to establish two restaurants in Trump’s downtown hotel. “There’s nothing in the lease that gives them the right to walk to away from their obligations,” Garten said.

Woods, a Seyfarth partner in the Washington and Atlanta offices, declined to comment about her involvement in Trump’s two restaurant cases, which both seek $10 million in damages. Monday’s lawsuit in District of Columbia Superior Court was filed against CZ-National LLC, the company formed for Zakarian’s D.C. restaurant, and BVS Acquisition Co. LLC. The complaint against Andrés, filed in Washington federal district court, names ThinkFoodGroup LLC and Topo Atrio LLC.

“In connection with the restaurants that Messrs. Andres and Zakarian were to open in the Trump International Hotel, Washington, D.C., we have filed lawsuits for breach of lease and actions on guarantees. The remedies we are seeking are based on the negotiated terms of the contracts and applicable law,” Woods said in an email to the NLJ on Tuesday.

Court papers in the two lawsuits don’t yet reveal outside counsel for Andrés and Zakarian. The two chefs, citing their displeasure with Trump, took issue with the Republican presidential contender’s comments about immigration.

“We had every intention of running a successful business that celebrates and welcomes people and cultures from around the world,” Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup said in a statement. “The landlord allowed Mr. Trump to saddle us with the burden of his inflammatory statements, such that operating a high-end Spanish restaurant is no longer viable for us at this location.”

A spokesperson for Zakarian was not immediately available for comment Tuesday. Zakarian said in a statement to Eater DC last month that “recent statements surrounding Mexican immigrants by Donald Trump do not in any way align with my personal core values.”

Bringing the heat

The restaurant litigation is not Woods’ first face-off against a famous chef. In 2009, she represented 1600 Capital Associates, a real estate company that sued Boston-based chef and restaurateur Todd English for failing to pay rent from December 2007 to March 2008 for his now closed restaurant Olives in Washington. Woods’ client won summary judgment in that suit, which was filed in D.C. Superior Court.

Woods joined Seyfarth as a partner in 2007 from Ross, Dixon & Bell. Previously, she was an associate at Covington & Burling in the early 2000s, where she worked on the black farmers’ loan discrimination litigation known as Pigford.

Woods earlier clerked in Utah for Judge Michael Murphy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, who was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton in 1995. Woods is a New York native who spent much of her young-adult life in the Midwest. She graduated in 1998 from Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law.

As an undergrad at Ohio State University in the early 1990s, the New York Times, quoting Woods, said she daydreamed about becoming a U.S. Supreme Court justice. Woods serves as chairwoman for the D.C. Rape Crisis Center.

Woods does not represent Trump personally, and she is not involved in the New York businessman’s Republican presidential run. Federal campaign records show Woods contributed $1,000 to Obama for America in July 2008 and $500 to Hillary Clinton for President in 2007.

A 2012 American Bar Association article—written by Woods—offers a glimpse at her attorney-client strategy.

“By far the most successful strategy is to make your client part of the decision making, rather than sending a monthly invoice that leaves the client scratching her head,” Woods wrote in the ABA article.