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A federal judge has sanctioned the law firm representing a woman in a lawsuit accusing billionaire Leon Black of sexual assault linked to late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein but stopped short of throwing the case out entirely.
In a 76-page opinion and order, U.S. District Judge Jessica Clarke found that attorney Jeanne Christensen and her firm, Wigdor LLP, engaged in “serious, sanctionable misconduct” during the litigation.
Clarke wrote that Christensen “lied repeatedly” to the court and opposing counsel about a related case and directed her client to delete a potentially relevant social media account.
“In light of the serious and varied misconduct … the Court strongly considered granting the case-terminating sanctions Defendant requests in this matter,” Clarke wrote. “However, the Court ultimately concludes that lesser sanctions can address the misconduct.”
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Leon Black, then chairman and CEO of Apollo Global Management, at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., in 2018. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)
The lawsuit alleges that Black, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, raped a 16-year-old girl in New York City in 2002. The accuser, identified as “Jane Doe,” claims she was previously abused and groomed by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who she says trafficked her to other men, including Black.
The judge also raised concerns about the plaintiff’s evidence, finding that some materials — including sonogram images contained in personal journals — had been falsified. Clarke did not rule on the underlying allegations but determined that certain supporting evidence could not be relied upon.
The plaintiff has alleged she was subjected to an “impregnation game” involving Epstein and others, claiming she was forced to carry pregnancies resulting from sexual abuse.
“According to Plaintiff, she was forced to carry out pregnancies that resulted from the men who sexually abused her, and Maxwell took photographs of Plaintiff’s body as it changed during her pregnancies,” Clarke wrote.
“Plaintiff testified that all of the sonograms in the journals were hers from several abuse-related pregnancies, including some pregnancies that came to term and others that were terminated.”
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Leon Black, then chairman and CEO of Apollo Global Management LLC, in New York in 2019. (Demetrius Freeman/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)
The judge ordered Christensen to file the misconduct ruling in all of her federal cases in the Second Circuit for the next year and for five years in any case in which sanctions are sought against her, her firm or her client. Wigdor LLP was also ordered to pay the defendant’s legal fees tied to the sanctions motion, and the plaintiff is barred from using journals containing falsified sonograms.
Wigdor LLP, which no longer represents the plaintiff, said it was “upset” by the sanctions but noted the case remains active, Politico reported.
“We are pleased that our former client will get her day in court,” firm founder Douglas Wigdor said in a statement.
Black’s attorney said the plaintiff’s credibility has been “destroyed” and called for the case to be withdrawn, urging authorities to investigate what she described as “fraud.”
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Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2005. (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images)
“Her credibility having been destroyed, Doe should withdraw her Complaint and apologize to Mr. Black for manufacturing false and defamatory claims. We urge the federal authorities to investigate this fraud on the Court,” Susan Estrich, attorney for Leon Black, said in a statement.”
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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 connections to Epstein and Maxwell.
Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 on sex-trafficking charges.
Wigdor LLP and Susan Estrich could not be immediately reached by Fox News Digital for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu contributed to this report.
Sophia Compton is a Writer at Fox News Digital. Sophia was previously a business reporter covering finance, energy and tourism and has experience as a TV news producer. She graduated with a journalism degree in 2021 from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Story tips can be sent to sophia.compton@fox.com.