Alexandra Shapiro and Jonathan Bach are two members of the defense team that represented Sean “P. Diddy” Combs - the well-known music and fashion entrepreneur - in a highly publicized trial in the summer of 2025.

Combs’ defense team achieved a significant victory by securing acquittals on the most serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. He was convicted on two lesser counts of transportation for prostitution under the Mann Act. The trial lasted 43 days, and the jury deliberated for three days. Sentencing is set for October 3.

Jonathan Bach is a highly successful trial lawyer who interrogated one of the prosecution’s witnesses during the Combs defense. Alexandra Shapiro - a former Supreme Court clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a former New York prosecutor - is considered one of the most admired and sought-after appellate lawyers in America.

Their firm, Shapiro, Arata & Bach, has participated in a number of celebrated cases at both the trial and appellate levels. In full disclosure, they are friends of mine, and Jonathan has represented me in a legal matter.

My conversation with Jon and Alexandra is an opportunity to look inside the Combs trial—one of the most publicized cases in recent history. We will also explore fascinating questions about lawyers and the role of trials in American history.

Trial lawyers are classic figures in American life, much like the Western cowboy. Throughout U.S. history, they have captured public attention as defenders of both ideas and people. They have been portrayed in movies, on stage, and in iconic films such as To Kill a Mockingbird, and they have played central roles in historic cases like the Scopes “Monkey” Trial and the Nuremberg Trials.

Remember historic figures such as John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Clarence Darrow, and Thurgood Marshall—they were all trial lawyers. Consider infamous trials like O.J. Simpson’s, which featured prominent trial lawyer Johnnie Cochran. And remember the many talented women who have argued in courtrooms across America, advancing the cause of equal rights—they, too, were trial lawyers.

This is an especially interesting moment to reflect on the Combs trial and the role of trial lawyers as he awaits sentencing.

We will discuss many topics, including:

What the prosecution charged.

How the defense crafted its response—strategically choosing how to make its case without presenting a formal defense.

What arguments Combs’ legal team might pursue going forward.