They are still not as famous as their widely known customer, Donald Trump. But Todd Blanche and Susan Necheres, the lawyers trying to keep the former president out of prison in a hush-money trial in New York, are likely to become minor celebrities when their legal battle begins this week.
A year ago, when a grim-faced Trump made history as the first former president to face criminal charges, Blanche and Necheres were involved in allegations related to Trump’s hush-money payments to two women. He sat by his side as he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. .
Blanche, who usually argues hush money cases in court, told reporters that Trump is determined to fight the charges.
“He’s frustrated and upset,” Blanche said. “That’s not going to stop him.”
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Both attorneys are already considered stars of the criminal law defense industry. However, this trial, the first of four pending criminal cases against President Trump, will be a dramatically bigger stage for them.
Here’s what you need to know:
Todd Branch – From Federal Prosecutor to Trump’s No. 1 Defender
Blanche is widely considered to be Trump’s lead defense attorney in various lawsuits, including one brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
He first made a name for himself after working as a federal prosecutor for nine years. Southern District of New York, or the SDNY, which includes Manhattan, where Trump is being tried by District Attorney Alvin Bragg. In 2017, he joined Cadwallader, Wickersham & Taft as an attorney, one of New York’s oldest and most prestigious law firms. Partner and prominent white collar lawyer.
There, Blanche, 49, has been a tenacious advocate for clients and some Trump associates, including current adviser Boris Epshteyn and Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. built a reputation.
“Todd’s experience as a defense attorney includes getting criminal charges against Paul Manafort dropped before trial and leading an unexpectedly positive lead in the SDNY’s political prosecution of Rudy Giuliani associate Igor Fruman. including achieving results,” Blanche’s online biography states.
He left that job about a year ago to work full time for Mr. Trump. his own law firm Blanche Law and reportedly moving to Palm Beach County. Buy a house Near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion and club.
Trump is known to be quick to switch between lawyers, and Blanche has represented the former president in a variety of cases in recent years, including criminal charges. In addition to the current New York case, Mr. Blanche is the lead attorney in Mr. Trump’s Florida case, where he was indicted federally on charges of possessing classified documents, and his Washington, D.C., case involving charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. He is also co-counsel in the Trump case. .
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Susan Necheres is known for her work defending “The Rabbit in the Hat.”
After graduating from Yale Law School in 1983, Necheres (pronounced NECK-lace) worked as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, New York, and served as president of the New York State Council of Public Defenders and the New York State Women Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
Over the years, she became known for “persuading prosecutors not to prosecute in some cases and winning dismissals in others,” according to a biography from the law firm Necheres Law LLP. “When a case must be tried, Susan is an accomplished trial attorney, and she has tried dozens of cases to verdict in federal and state courts.”
Mr. Necheres has been listed annually in New York Super Lawyers magazine as one of New York’s leading white-collar criminal defense attorneys since 2006. In 2022, he represented the Trump Corporation in a tax fraud criminal trial against two of Trump’s companies.
Chambers & Partners, a legal rating and headhunting firm, ranks Mr. Necheres in its top group for white-collar crime and government investigation litigation. She specializes in defending high-profile clients “facing regulatory investigations and complex criminal proceedings,” and “often takes on cases involving allegations of fraud and corruption,” Chambers said.
Necheres’ own website quotes Chambers as saying that she “reserves and recommends her amazing results.”
She was also a former lawyer for Venero Mangano, the former Genovese crime family underboss known as Benny Eggs, according to the New York Times.
