They aren’t household names yet like their universally known client, Donald Trump. But the lawyers trying to keep the former president out of prison in his New York hush money trial − Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles − likely will become minor celebrities once the court battle gets going this week.
A year ago, when a grim-faced Trump made history as the first former president to face criminal charges, Blanche and Necheles sat by his side as he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records associated with hush money payments to two women.
Blanche, who usually does the talking in court on the hush-money case, told reporters that Trump was determined to fight the charges.
“He’s frustrated, he’s upset,” Blanche said. “It’s not going to stop him.”
Trump trial live updates:Prosecutor wants $3,000 fine, former president held in contempt
Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide
Both defense attorneys are considered stars in the criminal legal defense world already. But the current trial, Trump’s first out of four criminal cases on the docket, gives them an exponentially bigger stage.
Here’s what to know:
Todd Blanche − from federal prosecutor to primary Trump defender
Blanche is widely regarded as Trump’s primary defense lawyer across his various cases, including the one brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
He first made a name for himself as a federal prosecutor for nine years in the Southern District of New York, or SDNY, which includes Manhattan, where Trump is being tried by District Attorney Alvin Bragg. In 2017, he joined Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, one of New York’s oldest and most prestigious law firms, as a partner and prominent white-collar defense lawyer.
There, Blanche, 49, built a reputation as a dogged advocate for his clients – and for his defense of some Trump associates, including current advisor Boris Epshteyn and Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.
“Todd’s experience as a defense attorney includes getting the criminal indictment against Paul Manafort dismissed prior to trial and achieving an unexpectedly positive result in the politically charged prosecution by the SDNY against Igor Fruman, an associate of Rudy Giuliani,” according to Blanche’s online bio.
He left that job about a year ago to work full-time for Trump, setting up his own law firm Blanche Law and reportedly moving to Palm Beach County to buy a house near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and club.
Trump is known for cycling through lawyers quickly, but Blanche has represented the former president on various cases in recent years, including his criminal indictments. Besides the current New York case, Blanche is also lead counsel on Trump’s case in Florida involving his federal indictment for retaining classified documents, and co-counsel on Trump’s case in Washington, D.C. involving charges of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
More:Trump lawyers blast DA Alvin Bragg’s case, but legal experts say they’ll regret it. Here’s why
Susan Necheles is known for ‘rabbit-out-of-the-hat’ defense work
After graduating from Yale Law School in 1983, Necheles (pronounced NECK-lace) worked as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y. and served as president of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers and of the New York Women’s Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Group.
Over the years, she has become known for “convincing prosecutors not to bring charges in some cases and obtaining dismissals in others,” according to her bio at her law firm, Necheles Law LLP. “When a case must be tried, Susan is an accomplished trial lawyer, having tried dozens of cases to verdict in federal and state court.”
Necheles has been listed in New York Super Lawyers as one of the leading white collar criminal defense lawyers in New York every year since 2006. In 2022, she represented the Trump Corporation during a criminal tax fraud trial of two of Trump’s companies.
The legal rating and head-hunting firm Chambers and Partners lists Necheles as being in the top band of White-Collar Crime and Government Investigations litigators. She specializes in the defense of high-profile clients “facing regulatory investigations and complex criminal proceedings,” Chambers says, “often acting in cases involving allegations of fraud and corruption.”
Necheles’ own website quotes Chambers as saying it would recommend her “unreservedly for her rabbit-out-of-the-hat results.”
She was also a former counsel to Venero Mangano, the former Genovese crime family underboss known as Benny Eggs, according to the New York Times.