TRUMP’S—AND OUR—LEGAL MATTERS PART 2

THIS HAS BEEN EVOLVING RESEARCH: It began with my reading a fine article in Fulcrum, “The Legal Costs and Risks of Trump’s 328 Lawsuits.” Then my research led in several directions. Here in Part 2, we cite Congressional responsibility, dollars and also legal education. 

More From Fulcrum. Steve Corbin recounts, “On May 13, I asked three people elected to represent me (i.e., Iowans’ Sen. Chuck Grassley, Sen. Joni Ernst, and Rep. Ashley Hinson) to provide an ‘approximate cost that Americans will have to pay legal counsel to defend Trump 2.0’s 328 lawsuits filed to date.’ No reply has been received from any of my elected delegates. So, there goes accountability by Congress to the electorate and representation by, for, and of the people, a core principle of a representative democracy.”

A Senator’s Compassion. Purely as an aside, I cite Senator Joni Ernst’s cavalierette comment “We all are going to die” in response to the administration’s proposed Medicaid cuts.

Geez.

In Dollars and Cents—If Not Sense. Corbin continues, “You might like to know the average hourly rate for lawyers in the U.S. is $341 and a mere $462/hour for attorneys at law in Washington, D.C. (Clio Report, 2024).” 

Hmm… Let’s suppose conservatively (agg! what has happened to the English language??) that each side in each of Trump’s 328 lawsuits involved five lawyers; thus a total of 10 x 328 = 3280 suits er… attorneys.

Let’s suppose, again conservatively, each lawyer bills 35 hours per week. (Let’s give them time for smoozing at Georgetown’s Executive Branch.) This brings us to a total to 35 x 3280 = 114,800 billing hours each week.

I usta get paid vacation, so let’s do the same for the lawyers: 114,800 billing hours/week x 52 weeks a year = 5,969,600 billing hours each year. 

At $462/hr per lawyer, a year of legal costs amounts to $2,757,955,200. As Senator Everrett Dirksen might have said, “That’s real money.” And no wonder the litigious Queens Felon has blackmailed legal firms into Pro Bono deals. 

This and following images from Crush the LSAT.

A Litigious Queens Felon. Corbin recounts, “Lawsuits are not novel to Mr. Trump. According to a comprehensive review by USA Today, published nine years ago (July 7, 2016), Donald Trump has been involved in at least 4,095 lawsuits where he was the defendant. These include a wide range of civil and criminal cases, relating to business disputes, defamation, political campaigns, casinos, taxes, golf clubs, real estate, government investigations, and sexual abuse. And, Mr. Trump has filed a documented minimum of 1,600 lawsuits against other individuals and organizations. In summation, Donald John Trump has encountered at least 5,695 lawsuits in his lifetime.”

Who Wins? Who Loses? No Simple Matter. Bruce Welker has assembled “Donald Trump Settlements & Lawsuits—History of Legal Affairs” at Crush the LSAT, updated May 31, 2025. In particular, Welker writes, “Before going any further, here’s a quick disclaimer: this piece is meant to be educational and is not a politically motivated attack on the former President…. Instead, the goal here is to use his history to understand the reality of lawsuits and how they typically occur in different American industries.”

In lieu of running yet another image of Trump, I’m choosing this cartoon that appeared in The New Yorker, June 2, 2025.

“Also,” Welker continues, “this article won’t discuss all the 4000+ lawsuits in which he has been involved—that’s just not possible! Instead, let’s take a look at some of Trump’s highest-profile cases with the greatest educational value.” 

Welker’s Key Takeaways. The article is a lengthy one, albeit fun to scan (its complete down-key scroll takes 37 seconds!) Fortunately, Welker offers three Key Takeaways.

Lawsuits Can Be Weaponized. “In fact, this practice is so widespread that it’s been given a name—Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP).”

Settlements Can Be Victories. “It’s tough to find sources with concrete statistics, but a 2009 study published in the Journal of Empirical Studies found that the settlement rate of all legal disputes in one district was close to two-thirds.”

And Verdicts Aren’t Always the End. “Whether your case gets thrown out, settled, or brought to trial and given a verdict, the effects of the lawsuit—and all the sensitive information it leaves in the legal records—can follow you for the rest of your life.”

I wonder if someone will remind this to the Queens Felon. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025