To many in the Philadelphia legal community, Michael van der Veen is something of an enigma.

Having represented former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment only months after suing the Trump administration over the suppression of mail-in ballots, van der Veen, 58, leapt onto the national stage in 2021 without a discernible agenda beyond representing clients in consequential cases, comparing himself to “Goodyear selling tires” or “Ticonderoga selling pencils.”