The many arguments between Donald Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, and the experienced judge, who has occasionally questioned her legal knowledge, have been among the most remarkable aspects of Trump’s defamation trial.
Ms. Habba, who is 39 years old, has gone from being a little-known litigator to defending the former US president in some of his most dangerous cases.
Her parents were Chaldean Catholics who escaped persecution in Iraq in the early 1980s, and she was born in New Jersey. Here are a few facts about Alina Habba
1. She once had an interest in the fashion industry before law
Habba collaborated with Marc Jacobs executives in the fashion sector from 2005 to 2007, handling marketing and production of accessories. She claimed that even though she loved the fashion industry, money was the main reason she chose to go to law school. In 2010, she graduated with a Juris Doctor from the Commonwealth Law School at Widener University.
2. Habba started her firm in 2020
She departed in March 2020 to launch her own business. There are five employees at Habba, Madaio, and Associates LLP. Habba is one of the firm’s offices in Manhattan in addition to its location in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Alina Habba has legal practice licenses in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. She has led the legal defense in three cases, one of which was a federal class action lawsuit brought against a nursing home in New Jersey on charges of several negligence offenses and consumer fraud.
3. She got acquainted with Trump in 2019
Alina Habba moved to the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, in 2019, which is eight minutes away from her legal practice. It was there that she and Donald Trump first met. When Trump brought Habba into his legal team in September 2021, she had never represented him in court. She took over for several seasoned attorneys who had served Trump for many years but had resigned, including Marc Kasowitz, Charles Harder, Joanna Hendon, Marc Saroff Mukasey, Jay Sekulow, and Lawrence S. Rosen.
4. She has been representing Trump right since 2021
Shortly after being hired, Trump’s lawyer sued The New York Times, three Times writers, and Trump’s niece Mary L. Trump for $100 million on Trump’s behalf. The judge dismissed her complaint because it “failed as a matter of constitutional law.”
Alina Habba also represented Trump in a slander lawsuit brought by Summer Zervos. Zervos accused Trump of kissing and touching her without permission while she was a contestant on his reality TV show, The Apprentice, in 2017. Following her accusations, Trump labeled Zervos a “liar” in 2017. Habba launched a Trump countersuit against Zervos in October 2021, alleging that the latter was attempting to restrict Trump’s freedom of speech. Not long after, in November 2021, Zervos ended the legal action.
5. She has been married twice
“Very religious” is how Habba has defined herself. She describes herself as a Catholic Chaldean.
Alina Habba and Matthew Eyet were wed from 2011 to 2019. In 2020, she wed Gregg Reuben and the two of them now reside in Bernardsville, New Jersey. An entrepreneur in the “parking lot management industry” is Reuben. Habba is a mother of three.
6. Habba’s cross-examining methods have been frowned upon.
Alina Habba was the Leading counsel for the E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump trial, which got underway on January 16, 2024. Habba was repeatedly scolded by presiding federal judge Lewis Kaplan for her methods of cross-examining Carroll and introducing evidence for three days. On January 26, 2024, a jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in damages against Trump.
7. She defended Trump against his former attorney
In a federal civil action brought by Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, Habba represented the President. During the coronavirus outbreak, Cohen was freed from prison and placed under house confinement. After promoting his book that attacked Trump, he was again imprisoned, but 16 days later, an injunction was obtained, and he was freed. Cohen eventually filed a damages lawsuit against Trump and former Justice Department personnel. The lower court rejected Cohen’s move for the action to be dismissed with prejudice, which Habba filed. The ruling of the lower court was sustained in January 2024 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
8. Her parents are immigrants.
To avoid persecution in Iraq, their parents—who were Catholics—emigrated to the United States in the early 1980s. Saad F. Habba, her father, works as a gastroenterologist.
