A federal judge has issued penalties against the legal team representing a woman who has accused billionaire Leon Black of sexual assault in a case connected to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. However, the judge has chosen not to dismiss the lawsuit entirely.
In a detailed 76-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Jessica Clarke determined that attorney Jeanne Christensen and her law firm, Wigdor LLP, engaged in “serious, sanctionable misconduct” during the course of the case.
Judge Clarke noted that Christensen “repeatedly lied” to both the court and the opposing legal team regarding a related case. Additionally, she instructed her client to delete a social media account that could have been pertinent to the case.
“Considering the severe and diverse misconduct… the Court seriously contemplated imposing case-terminating sanctions as requested by the Defendant,” Clarke stated. “Nonetheless, the Court ultimately decides that lesser sanctions are sufficient to address the misconduct.”
Leon Black, who co-founded Apollo Global Management, was photographed attending the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, in 2018. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)
The lawsuit accuses Black of raping a 16-year-old girl in New York City in 2002. The plaintiff, known as “Jane Doe,” alleges that she was previously abused and manipulated by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who she claims trafficked her to various 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.”
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.”
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.”
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.
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