National Legal and Policy Center appeals dismissal of complaint against Roberta Kaplan

The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) has filed an appeal following the dismissal of a bar complaint against attorney Roberta Kaplan. The complaint alleges that Kaplan failed to be transparent regarding the funding of E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump.

According to the NLPC, Kaplan did not disclose that LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman was bankrolling the litigation. Tax filings from 2023 indicate that Hoffman’s nonprofit, American Future Republic, paid $7 million to Carroll’s legal team. The NLPC contends that Kaplan waited nearly six months after a deposition to correct a statement made by Carroll, who had testified under oath in October 2022 that she was not receiving outside funding.

The Attorney Grievance Committee previously dismissed the complaint, a decision the NLPC is now challenging, claiming the dismissal occurred without a thorough investigation into potential violations of professional conduct rules for New York lawyers.