Paul Hastings Represents Trump-Tied SPAC in Truth Social Deal

A blank-check company looking to combine with former President Donald Trump’s media enterprise turned to Paul Hastings for outside counsel as it sought approval from regulators.

Paul Hastings is representing the Miami-based special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp. along with Ellenoff Grossman & Schole, according to recent securities filings.

Paul Hastings is advising Digital World on the transaction and related matters but isn’t doing any work for any other parties related to the deal or other Trump-related entities, a person familiar with the matter said. Digital World retained Paul Hastings prior to when the company filed an amended S-4 registration statement in mid-November last year, the person said.

Digital World has spent more than two years trying to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., the Sarasota, Fla.-based company that operates Trump’s Truth Social media platform. The agreement drew the scrutiny of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, although a settlement last year of securities fraud claims cleared a key hurdle that had delayed the merger.

Digital World shares rose 16% Thursday after the SEC declared the registration statement for its proposed combination with Trump’s company effective.

Ellenoff Grossman, a boutique firm known for its SPAC expertise, has been advising Digital World since 2021. Paul Hastings is one of several Big Law firms that benefited from a boom in SPAC transactional work in recent years.

Brad Bondi, global co-chair of the litigation and white-collar investigations practice at Paul Hastings, is listed in securities filings as advising Digital World along with corporate partner Brandon Bortner and two other corporate and capital markets lawyers—of counsel Gil Savir and Maria Larsen.

Bondi joined Paul Hastings last year from Cahill Gordon & Reindel, where he had led that firm’s white-collar and government investigations group after it hired him in 2015 from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.

Bondi is the brother of Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general who over the years has been a frequent supporter of Trump. In November, she was tapped to lead the Florida chapter of the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank. The organization paid roughly $251,300 to Pam Bondi for advisory services in 2022, according to its most recent federal tax filing.

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, a firm that has enjoyed close ties to Trump, has been advising Trump Media & Technology for more than two years. Nelson Mullins is also handling trademark work for the company, per public records.

Scott Glabe, a former partner at Husch Blackwell who previously worked in the Trump administration, is general counsel for Trump Media & Technology.