The man who stood by Trump in thorny legal battles

When facing legal problems, the first name that Donald Trump thinks of is lawyer Marc Kasowitz, who has been with him in a series of lawsuits over the past 15 years.

Attorney Marc Kasowitz. Photo: WSJ

When Donald Trump needs a lawyer to represent him in his thorniest legal battles, from defamation lawsuits to disputes over failed business deals, he often relies on his lawyer.New YorkMarc Kasowitz, according toWall Street Journal.

Trump called Kasowitz in 2006 to hire him to sue an author who had allegedly misrepresented his wealth in a way that diminished it. A year earlier, Trump had hired Kasowitz to sue his partners in a real estate deal. When Trump wanted to sue the New York Times for libel, Kasowitz was there.

In 15 years of cooperation between Trump andKasowitzNot every case ends in victory. But Kasowitz, who typically charges $1,500 an hour for his work, said he hopes to continue representing the New York tycoon and his companies after he moves into the White House.

"Kasowitz is always the guy you want when you have complicated, complicated legal issues. I think this relationship will only deepen," said Alan Garten, chief lawyer of the Trump Organization.

Kasowitz is respected by clients for taking on tough cases that other lawyers won't touch, but loathed by some rivals and former colleagues who disagree with him.

Kasowitz, a platinum-haired former basketball player, was cautious when asked about the US president-elect. “Trump is a big client,” he said of their relationship.

Aggressive style

Kasowitz is known as a fierce litigator. He built Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman LLP, founded in 1993, into a 270-lawyer firm with annual revenues of more than $200 million.

Other assignments for the 64-year-old lawyer include keeping his divorces from his previous wives under wraps and appealing a lawsuit against Trump University over alleged fraud. The case was closed after Trump agreed to pay the plaintiffs.

Their relationship involved a client that brought Kasowitz national attention: the North Carolina tobacco company Liggett Group.

In 1996, when a series of major US tobacco companies refused to pay states for medical care for people with smoking-related illnesses, Kasowitz and a colleague advised the Liggett Group not to follow that stance and agreed to pay the states.

The deal put Liggett Group, a small tobacco player, in the best position in the country when big tobacco companies signed a $206 billion settlement for medical costs to care for patients with smoking-related illnesses in 46 states two years later.

In 2001, Howard Lorber, chairman and CEO of Vector Group, Liggett Group’s parent company, introduced Trump to David Friedman, a bankruptcy attorney and partner with Kasowitz, whom Trump appointed as U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Trump hired Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman LLP to help restructure the debt of his Atlantic City casinos. The firm soon became the legal representative of the Trump Organization.

The cooperation between Trump andKasowitz alsoexperienced many ups and downs. In 2006,Kasowitz filed a defamation lawsuit on behalf of Trump against reporter Timothy O'Brien, alleging that a book he wrote understated the New York tycoon's net worth by $1 billion.

A New Jersey appeals court dismissed the lawsuit in 2011, upholding a lower court ruling that found O'Brien and the publisher did not act maliciously in misreporting Trump's assets.

“We never want to lose a case. Luckily we don’t lose a lot of cases,” Kasowitz said.

But Kasowitz's law firm lost again in the mid-2000s when it represented Trump in a lawsuit against Hong Kong business partners over competing interests in a property on Manhattan's west side.

But in 2006, Kasowitz also helped the Trump Organization win a lawsuit by board members at Trump World Tower in Manhattan to terminate the management contract of this building.

Alan Garten, the Trump Organization's general counsel, noted that Kasowitz and his law firm have handled a lot of issues for Trump behind the scenes on countless occasions over the years.

Thanks to Marc Kasowitz's support, Donald Trump is always ready to join legal battles. Photo: AP

Ready to face

Kasowitz grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of a scrap metal entrepreneur. After graduating from Yale, he enrolled at Cornell Law School in New York. He believes that "a good lawyer is a wise man in the community, someone to whom people want to seek advice, guidance, and help."

Unlike many firms of its size, Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman LLP is willing to sue large businesses as well as defend them.

Kasowitz’s law firm has sued Wall Street short sellers, banks, and even other law firms. Last September, it accused four of the largest chemical companies in the United States of concealing from the government the health risks of their isocyanate products. The lawsuit seeks up to $90 billion in damages and penalties.

"Kasowitz is not afraid to sue to protect what is right for his clients even if it offends others," said Paul Rivett, chairman of Canadian insurance company Fairfax Financial Holdings.

Fairfax Financial Holdings hired Kasowitz to sue hedge funds that it said drove down the price of its shares by spreading false rumors. Fairfax lost the case at first instance and is awaiting a decision from the appeals court.

Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman LLP is a place where lawyers don’t mind being in the shadow of their founder. Partners say Kasowitz’s door is always open and he’s always willing to reward those who earn his respect. ButKasowitzHe also has little patience for those he does not appreciate.

Like Trump, Kasowitz spends a lot of time in Florida. He often flies back to his home in Wellington, Florida, on weekends to watch his daughter compete in horse races. Kasowitz was also present at Trump’s 2005 wedding at Mar-a-Lago.

Kasowitz recalled that at a New York horse race a few years ago that Trump co-sponsored, the real estate billionaire pulled his daughter aside to chat after a grueling race even though they were surrounded by a crowd of people vying for the New York tycoon's attention.

"He was a very warm and loyal person. That part of him wasn't always prominent,"Kasowitz commented.

According to VNE