Trump's Worst Lawyer Has A More Embarrassing Pedigree Than We Knew

Donald Trump's lawyer Alina Habba had an odd reason for deciding to go to law school. While speaking to Bloomberg in 2022, the controversial attorney confirmed that her love affair with law started when her school, Kent Place, invited an entertainment litigator to share her experiences with the students. Although she was fascinated and inspired by the lawyer's work, Habba ultimately chose to study political science at Lehigh University instead. Following her graduation, Habba didn't immediately jump into a job involving political science either, and instead opted to work for Marc Jacobs. 

It was this fashion industry job that ultimately prompted her to pursue law school, with Habba explaining, "I decided I wanted to be able to actually afford the bags we made, so I decided to go to law school." Although she had the drive for the degree, Habba apparently couldn't get into any of the top law schools in the country, ultimately attending Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Pennsylvania. According to U.S. News, the university sits pretty low on the list of the best schools, coming in at 175 out of 195. 

While lawyers and judges rated the school a 2.2 out of five, a peer assessment score gave it a paltry 1.8. Likewise, U.S. News' overall rating was 37, with an estimated acceptance rate of around 66.5%. Trump's attorney, Habba, graduated with her Juris Doctor from Widener University around 2011. However, Habba's life before she became Trump's lawyer was still quite different because she seemingly hadn't dealt with a client with his needs before.

After passing the bar, Alina Habba kickstarted her legal career by gaining experience with several smaller law firms. Then, in 2020, she became a partner at Habba, Madaio, and Associates LLP. At one point in her career, she served as general counsel for a parking-garage company. Some of her other clients included a New Jersey resident who filed a class-action lawsuit against a nursing home and a student demanding compensation for their college tuition fees because their classes were moved online due to COVID-19 restrictions. Habba was also the legal counsel in an individual's libel case against two Portuguese media outlets. 

Elsewhere, Donald's Trump lawyer forged a friendship with "Real Housewives of New Jersey" alum Siggy Flicker while representing her in a legal spat against Facebook in 2021. In a blog post on Habba's law firm's official website, the reality star detailed how she had sent a letter to the social media company's legal department, alleging that her account had been mysteriously disabled after she wished Melania Trump a happy birthday on the platform in every language she knew. Given her experience level, it's unsurprising that some of Donald's inner circle had doubts about Habba representing him in his high-profile case against AG Letitia James. 

An insider offered Axios some insight into their concerns, dishing, "He has some lawyers that are very sophisticated with years of experience litigating, and he has now fallen prey to inexperienced lawyers who are just telling him what he wants to hear." However, Habba defended her pedigree by arguing that while she may not have worked in a prestigious law firm thus far, she had still managed to form her own organization, which was no small feat.