DLA Piper Hired Seyfarth Shaw for Sex Battery Claims Response

DLA Piper tapped a Seyfarth Shaw lawyer known for crisis management work to assist the firm after an associate accused a partner of sex abuse.

The firm hired Seyfarth’s Camille Olson after the associate, referred to as Jane Doe in court filings, in January notified the firm of her accusations against partner Brian Biggs, according to a person familiar with the situation. Olson, a labor and employment partner at Seyfarth Shaw, is listed as counsel for DLA Piper in a lawsuit the associate filed Friday in Massachusetts.

DLA Piper, Seyfarth Shaw, and Olson didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The representation shows how quickly law firms turn to outside talent when hit with allegations that risk harm. The associate, who resigned from the firm, is suing DLA Piper for harassment and retaliation and Biggs for assault and battery.

Olson regularly advises “boards of directors and executive team members in connection with internal investigations of highly sensitive matters,” according to her bio on Seyfarth’s website. The Chicago-based lawyer co-chairs the firm’s national complex litigation group and chairs the complex discrimination litigation practice.

She helped a national retailer reverse the largest-known, single-plaintiff sexual harassment verdict in US history, according to her firm’s website, which doesn’t name the company.

Associate Claims

The associate in her lawsuit claims that Biggs pressured her into a night of drinking in July 2022. Afterward, she claims she entered a “volatile relationship” with him. According to court documents, Biggs summoned her to the firm’s Wilmington office after a Dec. 12, 2022 dinner and attempted to kiss and grope her before dragging her into a conference room and raping her.

Biggs’ attorney, Douglas Brooks, called the allegations “false and defamatory” and said that Biggs “looks forward to his day in court to clear his name.”

“This is not the first time plaintiff has made salacious allegations against Mr. Biggs, and her prior testimony was found not credible,” said Brooks, of Libby Hoopes Brooks & Mulvey.

In July 2024, Biggs allegedly followed the associate home from a bar, broke into her home, and choked her, according to her complaint. Biggs wrote to the associate apologizing for breaking into her house, according to the suit.

The lawsuit said the associate took a leave of absence from DLA Piper and considered her career there over. Biggs left DLA Piper and later joined Ashby & Geddes. He’s no longer on the website but he still works for the firm, according to his assistant.

DLA Piper said Monday in response to the lawsuit that the firm learned in January 2025 of a romantic relationship between a partner and an associate and promptly investigated it.

“The associate made no allegations of rape to the firm,” DLA Piper said. “Following the firm’s review, the partner immediately withdrew from the firm; the associate remained employed at the firm until she resigned on December 12” of 2025.

The case is Doe v. DLA Piper, Mass. Super. Ct., No. 2584CV03465, complaint filed 12/12/25.