Atlanta Attorney Drew Findling wore dark shades and exuded a slight charm. He scored an acquittal for rapper Waka Flocka Flame after Atlanta airport authorities found a gun in his pocket. And he persuaded officers to reduce the charges against a member of the group Migos, who was arrested after a concert.
Dubbed the #BillionDollarLawyer by hip-hop stars and professional athletes who employ him, Findling has represented high-profile clients in criminal and civil matters across the United States. But he will face the most complex challenge of his 39-year legal career when another of his prominent clients, Donald Trump, is indicted for attempting to overthrow Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.
The two obviously don’t go together. In Trump, Findling has a notoriously difficult client in a dangerous situation with a reputation for disregarding legal advice. For his part, Findling supports progressive legal causes and criticized Trump during his time in the White House, once tweeting that he was “racist” and “pathetic.”
Still, lawyers who know Findling, 63, say he is uniquely positioned to defend the former president. He has tried hundreds of cases ranging from violent crimes to political corruption, giving him a deep understanding of the Fulton County prosecutors, judges and juries who could decide whether Trump needs to trade Mar-a-Lago for a jail cell . Findling also has experience working with rappers whose violent lyrics can get them in trouble — useful training for defending Trump, who has a penchant for outrageous statements the former president says shouldn’t be taken literally.
It is not certain that Trump, who denies wrongdoing, will be charged. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a criminal Democrat, considers a deliberative report from a special grand jury. The public details of that report stated that the grand jury had recommended perjury charges against at least one of the 75 witnesses who testified.
Findling arrives in New York with rapper Cardi B for her arraignment.
Photographer: Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images
That grand jury chair, Emily Kohrs, gave several surprisingly candid media interviews this week, telling NBC that the panel had recommended indicting more than a dozen people and hinted that Trump could be one of them. The unusual openness to secret procedures is almost certainly used by attorneys who defend anyone ultimately accused.
“The lens this foreman is now offering for the lack of seriousness and respect for this process behind the walls of the grand jury is truly shocking to the legal conscience,” Findling said in an email Thursday.
In the coming weeks, Willis could ask a new grand jury to indict Trump and his associates, though no such panel has heard evidence, according to a person familiar with the matter. Trump could face charges of election crimes or even a broader case under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Law (RICO). Penalties can range from a $1,000 fine and one year in prison for some offenses to a maximum of 20 years in prison for RICO.
A Trump spokesman declined to comment on Findling’s attitude. The former president is also being represented in the Georgia case by Atlanta attorney Jennifer Little, a former assistant district attorney in nearby DeKalb County.
Dozens of photos of him and his famous clients line the walls of Findling’s office in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood. Behind his desk are three bobble heads representing the members of the rap group Migos – Takeoff, Quavo and Offset, who is married to Cardi B. In November, Findling was widely quoted by global media as confirming that Takeoff was killed in a shootout outside a Houston bowling alley.
He keeps a hectic schedule. Last week he was in Miami and Los Angeles for legal battles with rapper DaBaby. He then went to New Orleans, where he represents the National Football League, which is pushing back Alvin Kamara, who was charged after a fight at a Las Vegas nightclub.
The next week began with Findling and his legal partner Marissa Goldberg at a hearing in Atlanta federal court for a client charged with illegal gun possession and a guilty plea for another client with a firearm. A Fulton County judge denied Findling’s offer of a trial date or bail for YFN Lucci, an Atlanta rap artist jailed on murder and RICO charges. Two days later, Findling was back in federal court with John Oxendine, a former Georgia insurance commissioner accused of health care fraud.
Drew foundling
Photographer: Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg
During a recent interview, Findling declined to discuss the details of Trump’s case. He acknowledged his personal politics are at odds with Trump’s, but said he had no hesitation in taking the former president as a client when attorneys representing Trump contacted him in the summer of 2022 and asked if he could take the job would consider.
“My commitment to my career and clients is very different from my personal life, personal beliefs and personal political affiliations,” Findling said.
Findling would be most likely to comment on Trump’s case when he expressed contempt for Fulton County prosecutors’ overuse of the RICO statute, a weapon Willis is using in her war on Atlanta gang violence. It is based on a federal law originally used against gangsters. Findling won an acquittal of Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill in 2013 on RICO charges.
“RICO is an abused law that makes it easier for prosecutors to get a conviction,” Findling said. “RICO is the legal equivalent of anabolic steroids in baseball.”
Raised by a single mother on Long Island, Findling moved to Atlanta to attend college. He stayed on for law school and worked in the Fulton County public defender’s office for several years. When he started his own company, Findling tried case by case. He said the jury has access to defense attorneys who know the evidence.
“Just do your work and be madly prepared, and you’re going to make that connection,” he said. “They reward people who they believe genuinely care about their client’s plight.”
Findling’s reputation began to soar in Atlanta’s rap world after he represented Gucci Mane, who pleaded guilty to a gun charge in 2014. As he became more immersed in the hip-hop world, he said he underwent a transformation fueled by the racial injustice his clients often endured, such as the post-concert marijuana arrests of Migos and others from Georgia Southern University in 2015.
“There’s this perception that hip-hop, that rap music, is all about violence and drugs, and that sucks. These are young people expressing an art form and expressing a frustration,” he said in a 2019 speech when he was president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “I’m very aware that I’m just a white guy. But I really did everything I could to try to understand it.”
Findling with Gucci Mane, Pierre Thomas aka Pee Thomas, 2 Chainz and Yung Miami at an event in Atlanta.
Photographer: Prince Williams/Getty Images
The lawyer got his nickname #BillionDollarLawyer from Memphis rapper Young Dolph after visiting him in Hollywood where he was shot. The nickname stuck. Young Dolph died of 22 gunshots in 2021.
Two of Foundling’s three adult children have followed in his footsteps, serving as public defenders in Fulton County.
In his office, Findling insists that only about 5% of his cases involve celebrities. But he clearly loves this part of his job.
“I’m just really trying to get to know her,” he said. “They have fascinating stories and they are interesting young people and they have interesting families. They’re just super talented at something I really don’t even understand.”
Attorneys who have worked with Findling say that in addition to his ability to liaise with jurors and clients, another benefit is his ability to take his case to prosecutors who are considering whether or not to press charges.
According to William Briggs, an attorney at Venable LLP in Los Angeles who has worked with Findling on joint clients for a decade, Findling has an “uncanny ability” to defend his case before law enforcement officials.
“I’m just checking to see if this prosecutor is going to file charges against the former president,” Briggs said. “If not, it could show the reason why he picked Drew Findling to represent him in Atlanta.”
–Assisted by Mark Niquette.
To contact the author of this story:
David Voreacos in New York at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net
To contact the publisher responsible for this story:
Brendan Walsh at bwalsh8@bloomberg.net
Sarah Ford
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