(CNN) President Donald Trump's attorney in a defamation case with a former "Apprentice" contestant is asking a judge for an interim stay pending appeal, which would temporarily suspend the case until the appeal has been decided.

The lawsuit was filed by Summer Zervos in January 2017 and alleges Trump defamed her after she accused him in an October 2016 news conference of sexually assaulting her in 2007.

Trump's attorney, Marc Kasowitz, is appealing the March 20 ruling by New York Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter, who allowed the case to go forward. The move was expected, and Zervos' legal team plans to fight it.

Trump's lawyers had filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing during a December 2017 hearing that a president has immunity from such lawsuits in state courts and that the case would conflict with his official duties, arguments that Schecter dismissed. The team also argued the President's frequent denials of accusations made by Zervos and others were protected political speech under the First Amendment because they were statements of opinion, an argument also dismissed by Schecter.

Kasowitz wants the appellate court to revisit the matter of whether the Constitution's Supremacy Clause bars a state court from hearing an action against a sitting president, calling it a key issue.

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