Federal judge sanctions law firm in Epstein-linked case against Leon Black
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A federal judge sanctioned the law firm that represented a woman in a lawsuit accusing billionaire Leon Black of sexual assault linked to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, but stopped short of dismissing the case entirely.
In her 76-page opinion and decision, U.S. District Judge Jessica Clarke found that attorney Jeanne Christensen and her firm, Wigdor LLP, engaged in “serious, sanctionable misconduct” during the case.
Clarke wrote that Christensen “repeatedly lied” to the court and opposing counsel about a related case and instructed his client to delete a potentially relevant social media account.
“In light of the serious and varied misconduct … the Court strongly considered granting the litigation-ending sanctions requested by the Defendant in this matter,” Clarke wrote. “However, the Court ultimately concluded that fewer sanctions could have remedied the abuse.”
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Leon Black, then chairman and CEO of Apollo Global Management, at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, in 2018. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)
The lawsuit alleges that Black, the co-founder of Apollo Global Management, raped a 16-year-old girl in New York in 2002. The accuser, identified as “Jane Doe,” claims she was abused and groomed by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who she says previously sold her to other men, including Black.
The judge also expressed concern about the plaintiff’s statements, finding that some material in the personal diaries, including sonogram images, was fake. Clarke did not rule on the main allegations but did find that some of the supporting evidence could not be relied upon.
The plaintiff alleged that she was subjected to a “pregnancy game” involving Epstein and others and that she was forced to become pregnant due to sexual abuse.
“According to Plaintiff, she was forced to sustain pregnancies resulting from men who sexually abused her, and Maxwell took photographs of Plaintiff’s changing body during her pregnancy,” Clarke said. he wrote. “Plaintiff testified that all of the sonograms contained in the diaries were of various pregnancies resulting from abuse, including some pregnancies that came to term and some that were terminated.”
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Leon Black, president and CEO of Apollo Global Management LLC, in New York in 2019. (Demetrius Freeman/Bloomberg, File via Getty Images)
The judge ordered Christensen to file a misconduct verdict with the Second Circuit in all of his federal cases over the next year and to rule for five years in every case seeking sanctions against him, his firm or his client. Wigdor LLP was also ordered to pay defendant’s attorney’s fees related to the motion for sanctions, and plaintiff was prohibited from using magazines containing fake sonograms.
Wigdor LLP, which no longer represents the plaintiff, said it was “saddened” by the sanctions but noted the case was active, Politico reported.
“We are pleased that our former client had his day in court,” company founder Douglas Wigdor said in a statement.
Black’s lawyer said the plaintiff’s credibility had been “destroyed” and called for the case to be withdrawn, urging authorities to investigate what he described as “fraud”.
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Photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2005. (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images)
“Doe, whose credibility has been damaged, should withdraw her Complaint and apologize to Mr. Black for making false and defamatory allegations. We urge federal authorities to investigate this fraud in Court,” Leon Black’s attorney, Susan Estrich, said in a statement. he said.
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Black, who left Apollo Global Management in 2021, has denied wrongdoing.
He is also among several high-profile figures expected to testify before the House Oversight Committee next month about their connections to Epstein and Maxwell.
Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted on sex trafficking charges in 2021.
Wigdor LLP and Susan Estrich could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu contributed to this report.
