Trump lawyer is now persona non grata at her Pennsylvania law school

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22 January 2024

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This should be a time that Widener University Commonwealth Law School would want to trumpet one of its most notable alumni.

Alina Habba, a 2010 graduate, has been representing Donald Trump — a former president of the United States who has a huge lead to become this year’s Republican presidential nominee. She’s on national television and all over social media.

But Widener Commonwealth — a little-known private institution in Harrisburg, Pa., ranked in the bottom 20 percent of law schools by U.S. News & World Report — has been all but silent.

Widener Commonwealth deans, professors and alumni contacted by Raw Story had effectively nothing to say about Habba.

There’s also no mention of Habba on the “ alumni spotlight” of Widener Commonwealth’s website, and she has not been the subject of any stories in the “alumni news” section.

The only appearance of Habba at all comes on page 35 of Volume 17, Number 2 of the Widener University School of Law Magazine, published in 2010.

There, Habba — student co-chair of the Class of 2010 gift committee — is pictured holding a basketball, part of “sports equipment and a shed to house it” that her class donated to the school.

Fast forward 13 years: Habba has been widely excoriated for incompetence and seeming ignorance about the most basic aspects of courtroom protocol and procedure.

Those shortcomings, and others, became glaringly apparent in this week’s federal case to determine damages owed to writer E. Jean Carroll for defamation by Trump, who has previously been found liable by a federal civil jury for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll.

Referring mockingly to one of the Trump’s defunct business ventures, a post on X said, “Did Alina Habba get her law degree at Trump University?”

Some others that took aim at her education:

“ Are we sure Habba went to law school?”

“ Alina Habba got her law degree from a box of Cracker Jack.”

“ Alina Habba has single-handedly devalued a law degree from Widener University.”

Habba failed to stand when addressing U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, drawing a rebuke from the judge. She talked back to the judge. She didn’t understand how to enter something into evidence. Kaplan was almost teaching her trial procedure as the case proceeded.

“The judge is spoon feeding her information the same way you would help a law student in a mock trial. Embarrassing,” said a post on X.

“Roaring with laughter at Habba’s incompetence,” another

Raw Story reached out to seven former students from Widener Commonwealth, including four who were pictured with Habba in the law school’s Fall 2010 magazine.

Two of the seven responded. One declined comment. Another who requested anonymity because of employer-client relationships, said, “She was very different in law school. If anything, she was left-leaning.”

The person continued, “If you had asked me in law school to create a list of classmates that would end up being legal counsel for the president of the United States, Alina Habba would not have been in my top 10. But then again, if you had asked me to create a list of future presidents, Donald Trump would not have been on that list either. Crazy things happen."

Raw Story also reached out to the current dean and an incoming law school dean. Neither replied. Representatives for the Trump campaign and Trump Organization also did not immediately respond to inquiries.

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In 2015, Widener University School of Law split its Delaware and Harrisburg sites into separately accredited institutions under the same umbrella. Habba attended Harrisburg.

Todd J. Clark, dean of Widener University Delaware Law School, did respond to a Raw Story email but emphasized that Habba graduated from Commonwealth, not Delaware. (The schools had not yet separated when Habba attended.)

Clark noted his school’s many first-generation students and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. He praised the “highly accomplished faculty” and the school’s “internationally renowned” Dignity Rights Institute/Clinic.

“As far as my students and alumni are concerned, I am confident they can compete with anyone in the country,” Clark wrote, “and that my faculty are the most engaged and committed in the legal academy!”

Habba is probably not helping reinforce those points.

In a podcast interview earlier this month, Habba said, “Somebody said to me, ‘Alina, would you rather be smart or pretty?’ And I said, ‘Oh, easy, pretty. You can fake being smart.'”

That fueled more derisive social media posts.

Some people predicted a Saturday Night Live sketch on Habba. Another poster on X — referring to a movie lawyer with no courtroom experience — wrote, “Habba makes My Cousin Vinny look like Clarence Darrow.”

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