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Not long after a woman sued Leon Black, claiming he raped her at sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s New York townhouse when she was just 16 years old, the billionaire targeted her lawyers with a request for sanctions.
The private equity mogul’s attorneys argue that Wigdor LLP, the firm representing Jane Doe, failed to properly vet her claims, and that Doe’s own family has questioned her accusations and said she “has a long history of dreaming up alternate realities.” (Wigdor denies Black’s allegation.)
While Black’s lawyer Susan Estrich submitted a memorandum in support of sanctions in September, a redacted version of the document was filed to the court docket this week—along with declarations from Black’s private investigator and “Elizabeth,” a former cheerleading mentor of the accuser who is a central figure in Doe’s lawsuit.