Who Are the Top Lawyers Sean “Diddy” Combs Hired For His Dream Defense Team?

Aurora Skye3 weeks agoLast Updated: 6 May 2025

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The New York jurors being selected on Monday to hear the sex trafficking and racketeering trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs are going to have to decide on one crucial question on which the prosecutor’s case seems to hinge: Did the rap mogul use his sizable staff over several decades to run a criminal enterprise, or is he a wealthy man with a dedicated team and some unique proclivities?

According to prosecutors with the Southern District of New York, the jailed rap and fashion world mainstay “used the business empire he controlled to sexually abuse and exploit women, as well as to commit other acts of violence and obstruction of justice.”

The trial is expected to last eight weeks, starting from the May 12 opening statements, Judge Arun Subramanian told potential jurors as Monday’s session opened for jury selection. The 12 men and women selected, who will be vetted thoroughly, will hear from four witnesses, only one of whom is currently known: Cassie Ventura, the defendant’s former romantic partner, who settled a civil case out of court last year, will be the first to take the stand; the three victims who will follow her are, at this point, unnamed publicly.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and maintains that he is innocent of any crimes. He was offered a plea deal with a reduced sentence, which he rejected, the rap mogul revealed in court late last week.

All four witnesses are prepared to tell about their experiences with Combs as the prosecution tries to show how he allegedly coerced women into sex by manipulating and controlling them, and how his staff played allegedly key roles in cleaning up after his messes and assuring alleged victims stayed in line and kept quiet. All four witnesses will then face cross-examination from a tailored team of attorneys who are some of the best defense lawyers that money can buy. Here’s a look at who’s who in Combs’ defense team.

Marc Agnifilo

“There’s a lifestyle, call it swingers, call it whatever you will — many people think it’s appropriate. The reason he thought it was appropriate is because it’s so common.”

The lead defense attorney for Combs’ trial is a veteran criminal defense lawyer known for representing high-profile clients throughout his 30-year career. The founding partner of Agnifilo Intrater LLP worked as Assistant U.S. Attorney in New Jersey from 1998 to 2006 as the lead of its Violent Crimes Unit. He has argued over 200 cases and secured acquittals in many complex trials involving accusations of assault, international tax fraud, political corruption and other crimes.

One notable success in Agnifilo’s career was the dismissal of the rape case against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn after an alleged sexual assault on a New York hotel maid in 2011. He’s gained a reputation over his career for challenging prosecutors head-on and making the case that his clients are being targeted unfairly, as was the defense strategy he presented for Turkish businessman Reza Zarrab, who was accused of evading U.S. sanctions on Iran through complex financial transactions. He’s already made a similar statement regarding the charges against Combs, calling it an “unjust prosecution.”

His high-profile cases have not all been success stories for his clients, though. Agnifilo defended NXIVM founder Keith Raniere, who was convicted on multiple charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering. Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison after he was convicted of seven felonies related to what prosecutors described as a sex cult the organization he co-founded.

Teny Geragos

“He’s fighting. He’s innocent, and he’s going to be able to show it.”

The sharp daughter of L.A.-based lawyer to the stars Mark Geragos (more on him, below), Teny Geragos is a founding partner at Agnifilo Intrater LLP and has strong experience defending and investigating sexual misconduct allegations. She’s defended sexual assault and securities and wire fraud cases, as well as others involving public corruption, tax evasion and narcotics trafficking.

Teny’s experience with sexual misconduct defense strategy has been on display in social media videos and on News Nation’s Cuomo, where she made an appearance to discuss her client’s innocence. Speaking with host Chris Cuomo following one of three bail denials for the rap mogul, Teny said that Diddy’s “ lifestyle is not criminal” and noted that when discussing his alleged crimes, the notion of consent was never brought up by prosecutors; the defense’s strategy, in terms of the sex trafficking charges and lurid “freak off” sex parties Combs threw, hinges on the assertion that all parties were consenting adults. “What was notable today… is they never once said that these women didn’t consent to what happened, not once,” she told Cuomo in September.

Teny also took Diddy’s case to TikTok, where she adopted the format of shutting down an accusation in a civil case filed against Combs by speaking to the camera with various headline screengrabs, legal files and images on display in the backdrop.

Alexandra Shapiro

The former clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Shapiro has a rep for taking on cases that court controversy. Her recent notorious client, who happens to be spending time with Combs at the Brooklyn jail where he is being housed, is FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, whom she defeated on appeal of his fraud conviction.

Shapiro’s career successes include narrowing the scope of federal fraud statutes before the Supreme Court, where she also argued the first-ever insider trading case. She’s known for appeals, white collar defense and civil litigation. Before founding her firm, she worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York and an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice.

There is, of course, more to Shapiro than her career. In 2022, she also penned a legal thriller, Presumed Guilty, to rave reviews.

Xavier R. Donaldson

“A just society requires that the accused be accorded zealous counsel and, more importantly, can you imagine a just society without criminal defense attorneys? I cannot.”

On May 1, Combs’ defense team appeared at a Manhattan federal court hearing where an unnamed legal addition was listed among the prestigious group. Since then, court filings have shown that Xavier Donaldson, a former Bronx prosecutor who has run his practice since 2023, has been added to the high-powered team. Donaldson is a graduate of Howard University, the same school Combs attended before leaving to pursue his music industry dreams.

Jason Driscoll

The young blood on the defense team, Jason Driscoll, joined Shapiro Arato Bach in 2023 after working with individual and corporate clients at a different firm, with time spent on both civil and criminal proceedings. Before this private sector work, he clerked for a federal district judge in the Southern District of New York, the venue for Combs’ trial, and as a federal appellate judge in the Second Circuit.

Anna Estevao

With a focus on appeals, government investigations and white collar crime, Anna Estevano feels like a natural fit for Combs’ defense team, given the charges the mogul faces from federal prosecutors. According to her LinkedIn profile, she made partner in January at New York firm Sher Tremonte LLP after spending seven years there as counsel. Estavao has been part of Combs’ team since the fall of last year, joining shortly after his September arrest in Manhattan.

Mark Geragos

“Race underscores everything in the criminal justice system.”

The celebrity defense attorney is busy with another headline-grabbing case with clients Erik and Lyle Menendez, but it’s rumored that he is going to play a major role in Coombs’ defense. The powerhouse lawyer has seen his share of big-with-a-capital-B trials, having defended Scott Peterson, Chris Brown, Jussie Smollett, and many more notable names facing some serious charges. Exactly what type of role he will play in Combs’ defense remains to be seen; as speculation has increased over the past three weeks since he appeared in court with Team Diddy, Gereagos has deflected questions about his involvement entirely.

There is one notable, enduring mystery surrounding the Combs trial. In February, attorney Anthony Ricco suddenly filed a motion to withdraw from the case. No one has been able to say exactly why Ricco decided to step away from his client, and while making his exit, he wrote to the court, “Under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel.”

Ricco, who famously defended Osama bin Laden and Omar Rahman after the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, specializes in state and federal court hearings and has saved the lives of multiple death row inmates. Additionally, he famously defended Gescard Isnora, an undercover cop who shot and killed Sean Bell, an unarmed Black man, in 2006. Given this penchant for tough cases, his refusal to work on the Combs’ case has fueled a great deal of speculation and mystery as to what made him quit the high-profile case that many anticipate will reveal much more about Combs’ luxe and libidinous lifestyle.

Source: Hollywoodreporter

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