Risk Update

Political, Public Figure Conflicts Allegations — Wells Fargo, Trump

Posted Dan Bressler

“Wendy Williams hires ex-husband Kevin Hunter’s lawyer after Wells Fargo freezes account” —

  • “Wendy Williams is using her ex-husband Kevin Hunter’s legal team to fight Wells Fargo over her frozen bank account amid ongoing health issues. ‘The Wendy Williams’ star will be represented by Florida attorney LaShawn Thomas of Miami Entertainment Law Group. The same legal firm that handles all of Kevin Hunter’s businesses, including Hunter Publishing and Head Hunter Productions.”
  • “Attorney LaShawn in an interview with Page Six on Tuesday, February 15, insisted that Williams doesn’t see the law firm’s involvement in Kevin Hunter’s business as a conflict of interest. The attorney explained, ‘Kevin did not request that I represent Wendy…I actually began representing Wendy approximately two years prior to their divorce. I represented neither party during their divorce proceedings… I am representing Wendy because no one should be barred from accessing their own money.'”
  • “LaShawn also told The Sun that ‘whatever is going on with Wendy, I don’t disclose to him [Kevin Hunter]… I believe in protecting the attorney-client privilege…I’m not representing Wendy and Kevin in an adversarial proceeding, and Kevin is not that kind of guy.”
  • “LaShawn went on to claim that the relationship between Wendy and her ex-husband is now good. ‘People think that they don’t get along with each other, which is not true,’ she said.”

“Latham & Watkins Prior Work for Perkins Coie Could Pose Conflict in Ex-Partner’s Trial, Government Says” —

  • “Special counsel John Durham is asking a judge to examine potential conflicts of interest in Latham & Watkins’s defense of former Perkins Coie partner Michael Sussmann.”
  • “The issue stems from Latham’s prior representation of Perkins Coie and another of its former partners, Marc Elias, on issues also related to Durham’s probe that may be relevant in Sussmann’s upcoming trial, according to a motion filed by Durham’s prosecutors.”
  • “Sussmann, a former cybersecurity partner at Perkins Coie, was indicted in September as part of the Durham investigation for allegedly lying to the then-general counsel of the FBI during a 2016 meeting about purported ties between then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Russia. Sussmann allegedly told the FBI that he was not meeting with the bureau on behalf of a client, when he was actually working with both Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and a technology executive that was conducting opposition research on Trump.”
  • “Sussmann’s defense team, led by Latham partners Sean Berkowitz and Michael Bosworth, has denied the allegations and called the prosecution politically motivated. His lawyers told the government that Sussmann intends to waive any possible conflicts, according to Durham’s filing.”
  • “‘Moreover, it is possible that the defendant, having recently resigned from his partnership at [Perkins Coie], is currently or will become in an adversarial posture with his former employer. Latham–through its prior representation of [Perkins Coie]—likely possesses confidential knowledge about [Perkins Coie]’s role in, and views concerning, the defendant’s past activities,’ the motion states. ‘Accordingly, the government believes that potential conflicts of interest may exist or arise from Latham’s prior representations of [Elias] and [Perkins Coie] in this investigation.'”