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Daniel Petrocelli said "granting this request would resolve the existing conflict." | Getty Trump lawyer wants Trump U. trial postponed to January

Donald Trump's lead lawyer is asking a federal judge to delay to next year the jury trial currently set to begin in November in a class-action fraud lawsuit over the Trump University real estate seminar program.

Trump attorney Daniel Petrocelli made the request Monday, citing another trial Petrocelli is handling that is set to start Nov. 15 in Los Angeles involving satellite broadcaster Sirius XM.

The Trump University trial isn't scheduled to begin until Nov. 28, but Petrocelli said it would be impossible for him to attend important pretrial proceedings in the Trump University case in San Diego while the Sirius XM case is underway.

In a court filing Monday with U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel, Petrocelli said the Trump University trial should be shifted to start Jan. 2, 2017, or perhaps to Dec. 12, 2016.

"Granting this request would resolve the existing conflict, while respecting the Court’s preference that trial occur between the election and inauguration (if Mr. Trump were to be elected), and would cause no prejudice to plaintiffs," Petrocelli wrote.

Trump is expected to attend the trial in the Trump University suit and to appear as a witness. He said he's confident he'll defeat plaintiffs' claims that Trump University defrauded students by falsely claiming that instructors were hand-picked by him, that the program taught Trump's secrets and by describing the enterprise as a "university."

Petrocelli said it would be unfair to have the Trump University case go to trial so quickly after the Sirius XM case and that there might even be an actual overlap in the cases.

"Both cases are complex class action trials requiring extensive preparation in the period leading up to trial. The current schedule does not provide Mr. Petrocelli sufficient time during this period to prepare this case for trial," the motion said.

The class-action lawyers handling the Trump University case are opposed to the requested continuance, Petrocelli said.