Attorneys for Donald Trump said the looming jury trial should not divert him from the "critical and all- consuming" work of preparing for the presidency. | Getty Trump asks to postpone Trump University trial until after inauguration

Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump are formally requesting the postponement of a trial scheduled to begin later this month in a federal class-action fraud suit over his Trump University real estate seminar program.

In a motion filed in federal court in San Diego Saturday evening, attorneys for Trump said the looming jury trial should not divert him from the "critical and all- consuming" work of preparing for the presidency.


However, Trump's lawyers said they're open to the idea of him giving another deposition in the case before he is sworn in on Jan. 20.

"The President-Elect should not be required to stand trial during the next two months while he prepares to assume the Presidency. The time and attention to prepare and testify will take him away from imperative transition work at a critical time," Trump attorneys Daniel Petrocelli, David Marroso and David Kirman wrote. "We acknowledge plaintiffs have a right to trial of their claims, but their rights will not be abridged if trial were continued to a date after the inauguration to allow the President-Elect to devote all his time and attention to the transition process."

Trump's lawyers stressed that they are not proposing deferring the civil case until after he leaves office. Such a move would seem to be a non-starter since the Supreme Court ruled in 1997 in a sexual harassment suit against President Bill Clinton that lawsuits can go forward against sitting presidents for actions they took before assuming office.

"President-Elect Trump is not seeking to stay this case indefinitely or until the end of his term. Instead, we seek a modest continuance of the trial to a date after the inauguration that is convenient for the parties and the Court," Trump's attorneys wrote.

Trump faces two federal class-action suits over alleged fraud in the Trump University program: one is set for trial Nov. 28, while the other was expected to go to trial shortly thereafter. Trump's legal team is proposing that he be required to testify only once and that the testimony be recorded.

"In this way, the Court minimizes the intrusion on the President-Elect, preserves his trial testimony, and guarantees plaintiffs their day in court without regard to a sitting President’s unpredictable schedule," Trump's lawyers said.

Trump's motion cites a variety of news stories and academic articles about the work he must tackle in the coming days. One is a POLITICO story from earlier this week noting that Trump is “preparing for the vast challenges a political novice will face in assuming the presidency."

Lawyers for the president-elect cite occasions where sitting presidents won unusual accommodations from courts seeking their testimony, such as a videotaped deposition President Ronald Reagan gave in the 1990 Iran-Contra-related trial of former National Security Adviser John Poindexter and video testimony Clinton gave in a 1996 trial of two of his business partners in the Whitewater land deal.

At a hearing Thursday before U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel, Petrocelli advertised that a motion to delay the trial was coming. Curiel agreed to scheduled the trial for late November in order to avoid interfering with Trump's participation in the presidential campaign. The judge has resisted further delays in the suit, which has been pending for more than six years.

Lawyers pressing the case on behalf of former Trump University students are expected to resist any delays and to push for a personal appearance by Trump at the trial.

The pair of federal lawsuits allege that Trump University marketers misled prospective students by indicating that the instructors for the program were hand-picked by Trump and by suggesting that the education was to be delivered by an accredited university. The case set for trial later this month presents claims under strict California, Florida and New York anti-fraud laws. The follow-on suit is nationwide in nature and alleges that the misrepresentations rendered the business a racketeering enterprise under federal law.

Trump's lawyers say any exaggerations amounted to mere "puffery" and the vast majority of students were satisfied with the program, which cost about $1,500 for a weekend seminar up to $35,000 for a one-on-one mentorship in real estate investing.