When Alina Habba Is The Best You Can Do….

BREAKING: Alina Habba sends a letter to Judge Kaplan tonight demanding that he respond to a NY Post article that alleges he once “mentored” Carroll’s lawyer at a big firm in the early 90s. https://t.co/ni9dUZQktb

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 29, 2024

But that was enough for Alina Habba to cite that as another thing that they are going to appeal. In her letter to Judge Kaplan today, she said the following: 

"... there were many clashes between Your Honor and defense counsel. We believe, and will argue on appeal, that the Court was overtly hostile towards defense counsel and President Trump, and displayed preferential treatment towards Plaintiff's counsel. Indeed, the rulings, tone, and demeanor of the bench raised significant concerns even before New York Post's investigative journalism unearthed these new facts."=

Here’s the thing: you can argue with the judge; or you can be berated and excoriated by the judge. Or you can pass the time of day with the judge. But unless you get your objection to what the judge is doing on record, you can’t appeal it.

If she wants to argue anything of what she says here, she first has to establish that she objected to every instance she refers to. If she can’t, she has nothing to say to the appellate court, not even about this letter.

This letter all but convinces me that Habba didn’t preserve any errors she can appeal on. Not because this letter betrays some secret weakness, but because the fact of it betrays her ignorance of procedure. She’s still trying this case in the press. She has no idea how to try a case in court.

Which means she has no idea how to preserve error. She didn’t like what the judge said to her; once she said so. Other times, it seems, she kept her counsel, and accepted the rebuke. But unless she said “Note my objection,” or otherwise notified the court both that it was in violation of procedure or due process, and that the court should correct that violation, she didn’t preserve error. I’m willing to bet, now, that she didn’t. I’m willing to bet she doesn’t have shit in her motion for new trial. 

Which she should be working on, instead of writing letters to the editor; or more accurately, comments to a blog post. This complaint should be in that motion, not flapping around in public like dirty underwear. This won’t impress the judge, and it won’t get the attention of the appeals court.

If this woman can practice in New York Federal Court by the end of this, I’ll be surprised. If Trump doesn’t sue her for malpractice, I’ll be even more surprised.