A federal judge on Thursday imposed sanctions against a prominent sexual harassment law firm, one of the firm’s lawyers and an unnamed woman who said in a lawsuit that she was sexually abused by billionaire investor Leon Black when she was a teenager.
In a scathing 76-page ruling, US Judge Jessica GL Clarke, of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, said a lawyer in the case, Jeanne Christensen, had “repeatedly lied to the court” and Mr. Black’s lawyers.
The judge also said the unnamed plaintiff had “falsified images” in a personal journal she compiled to support claims against Mr. Black and his former friend, Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender. The journal was reviewed by the judge and expected to be used as evidence.
Mrs Christensen is an attorney at Wigdor, a prominent sexual harassment law firm. Last year, the firm Wigdor withdrew from representing the woman. The woman who has said she is autistic and neurodivergent is now representing herself.
The ruling is a major victory for Mr. Black and his lawyers, who have long denied the allegations made by the woman and complained about Wigdor’s behavior.
In a statement, one of Mr. Black’s lawyers, Susan Estrich, that “the order is a thorough rejection” of the allegations made by the woman and her lawyer in Wigdor. “The court found that they destroyed evidence, falsified evidence and committed ‘serious and varied misconduct’ in their zeal to try to destroy Mr Black.”
The millions of pages of Epstein-related documents released earlier this year by the Justice Department revealed that several women had complained to authorities about inappropriate sexual contact by Mr. Black.
The allegations made by the unnamed woman in the lawsuit against Mr. Black were some of the most severe and graphic that were brought against him. The woman had claimed in her lawsuit, which was filed in 2023, that she was sexually abused by Mr Epstein and subsequently traded to Mr Black in 2002.
Mr. Black was not charged by authorities with any wrongdoing. A spokesman for Mr. Black said he had never sexually abused or assaulted anyone.
In imposing sanctions, the judge did not dismiss the woman’s lawsuit outright because the statements she cited by Wigdor and the woman dealt mainly with her allegations against Mr. Epstein and not Mr. Black.
“The crux of this case is whether defendant Leon Black raped and assaulted plaintiff,” the judge wrote. “None of the lies and fabrications have any significant bearing on this central issue.”
Judge Clarke said Ms Christensen had lied in a letter she wrote summarizing what had happened in another court case where she represented the woman. The woman’s claims of being one of Mr Epstein’s victims were questioned in the proceedings, which related to JPMorgan Chase’s $290 million settlement with Mr Epstein’s victims.
In that proceeding, Judge Clarke noted that there were a number of inconsistencies and potentially “far-fetched” allegations made by the woman. Judge Clarke referred in particular to allegations that Mr Epstein had fathered several children with her and that she had flown on his private jet a number of times. There is no evidence that Mr. Epstein had children.
In a statement, Douglas Wigdor, the law firm’s founding partner, said: “While we are saddened by the penalty, we are pleased that our former client will get his day in court.”
As part of her sanctions, the judge ordered Wigdor to pay some of Mr. Black’s legal fees and prevented the woman from using her diary as evidence in the trial. Also for the next year, Ms. Christensen was ordered by the judge to file a copy of the order with every other federal court she appears before in New York.
Mr. Black, a co-founder of giant private equity firm Apollo Global Management, paid Mr. Epstein $170 million for what he has described as tax and estate planning services. He stepped down from management roles at the firm in 2021 after controversy erupted over his relationship with Mr Epstein.
