Petrocelli and law partner David L. Kirman have been retained as trial counsel for Donald Trump and Trump University in two class actions in the Southern District over the university's marketing practices. They successfully deferred the trial date and have recently filed motions to decertify and dismiss claims in the litigation. In late July, the trial judge denied Petrocelli's bid to dismiss the suit. Makaeff v. Trump University LLC, 3:10-cv-0940 (C.D. Cal., filed April 30, 2010); Cohen v. Trump, 3:13-cv-02519 (S.D. Cal., filed Oct. 18, 2013).
"The cases have been pending for years," Petrocelli said. "We were retained late last year. The plaintiffs sought a trial date in the spring or summer of this year, which we opposed. The court set trial for late November, after the presidential election."
Petrocelli is no stranger to marquee litigation, as shown by his work for murder victim Ron Goldman's father in his in wrongful death civil suit against O.J. Simpson, and former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling at his criminal trial.
The Trump litigation is comparable to the Simpson case due to how media coverage will likely sway the jury pool. Noted Petrocelli, "It took nearly a month to select a jury in the O.J. Simpson civil trial. There wasn't anyone anywhere who didn't know about the case and have strong opinions about it."
By any metric, the Trump case is a handful. "Mr. Trump is one of the most famous persons in the world right now," Petrocelli said. "Whether he wins or loses the presidency, his public profile and the events and politics of the presidential campaign will be dominant forces affecting the trial, even though they have nothing to do with the issues in the case."
At one March hearing, Petrocelli predicted to U.S. District Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel of San Diego that the trial could become a "zoo." And that was before Trump in June questioned Curiel's impartiality based on his Mexican heritage, even though the judge was born in Indiana.
"I said the proceedings could be a 'zoo' in reference to the massive media coverage of the trial in this case," Petrocelli said. "This creates difficult challenges for the lawyers, the court and everyone else involved in the trial. The justice system works quite well when there is nobody in the back of the courtroom, but when the media bursts through those doors, it's a whole different ball game, especially in a jury trial."
— John Roemer
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