Three of the attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia in his second civil lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), filed to prevent his anticipated deportation to Uganda, are part of the New York firm, Quinn Emanuel Trial Lawyers, where they previously represented prestigious clients including Elon Musk and Tesla, the global investment bank Credit Suisse, and debtors owed money by Sam Bankman-Fried’s bankrupt cryptocurrency company, FTX Trading Ltd.
Paperless orders signed on Wednesday by a deputy clerk confirm that Andrew J. Rossman, Sascha N. Rand, and Olivia G. Horton were admitted to represent Abrego Garcia in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland pro hac vice, a Latin legal phrase meaning for this occasion only.
The firm’s website describes Rossman as a managing partner of its New York office, as well as a “go-to lead trial lawyer for complex commercial litigation,” before highlighting his experience representing Musk’s company in the following paragraph.
Rossman specifically represented Tesla in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) action following Musk’s 2018 post to the social media platform X, then known as Twitter, which claimed he had “funding secured” to delist the public company.
Quinn Sullivan noted in a post to X that Rossman was one of three attorneys named “Litigators of the Week” by The American Lawyer after securing a favorable result for his clients.
The law firm’s biography for Rand similarly notes his ability to achieve, “exceptional results across a broad range of complex, high-stakes, matters involving financial instruments and institutions, bankruptcy, antitrust, and hedge-fund related litigation.”
It further informs that Rand secured a $500 million settlement for Credit Suisse, and recovered $20 billion for the U.S. Treasury Department, as the result of residential mortgage-backed security (RMBS) settlements that became common following the 2008 financial crisis.
His most recent experience listed by the firm is as a Special Counsel to the FTX Debtors, who were left with money owed from the company after FTX became insolvent in late 2022. The matter was resolved earlier this year.
Horton appears to be the newest Quinn Emanuel attorney associated with the case, as her employment at the firm was not reflected on an account that appears to match her identity on the social networking site LinkedIn at press time. The profile shows Horton most recently worked as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Programs Branch in Washington, D.C.
Rossman, Rand, and Horton were all similarly admitted to the federal court in Maryland pro hac vice for Abrego Garcia’s first lawsuit against DHS earlier this year.
The New York attorneys compliment the efforts of the Maryland law firm, Murray Osorio, whose attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, recently said Abrego Garcia would agree to a deal that resulted in his deportation to Costa Rica during an appearance on PBS.
“There’s already an offer on the table from Costa Rica for refugee status in that country, and a guarantee that Costa Rica will not deport him on to El Salvador,” said Sandoval-Moshenberg. “If they want to get him out as quickly as possible, we could work that out tomorrow.”
Abrego Garcia was returned to ICE custody on Monday, after being granted pretrial release last Friday. He was originally taken into DOJ custody upon his return to Tennessee in June, when U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi unsealed the indictment alleging he spent nearly a decade embroiled in a human smuggling ring.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his case is currently scheduled to reach trial in January 2026.
The case stems from his November 2022 traffic stop by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), which was first reported by The Tennessee Star in April. A spokesman for THP later told The Star that Abrego Garcia was released at the instruction of the “Biden-era FBI,” and a DHS document showed troopers suspected human trafficking.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photos “Andrew Rossman” and “Sascha Rand” by Quinn Emanuel Trial Lawyers. Photo “Olivia Horton” is by Olivia Horton. Photo “295 5th Ave” by GoogleMAPS.
