Leon Black Rape Case Will Head to Trial in NY Federal Court (1)

Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black must face claims that in 2002 he raped a 16-year-old girl in Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, a New York federal court ruled.

Judge Jessica G.L. Clarke of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Friday denied Black’s motion to dismiss the case, and rejected arguments that the claims brought by “Jane Doe” under New York City’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law are preempted by state law.

“The truth or falsity of that allegation is not the question at this stage,” Clarke wrote. Black, the judge added, “failed to demonstrate” that the state’s Child Victims Act preempts the city’s law or that the two laws conflict.

The court will hold an initial pretrial conference Oct. 29.

The lawsuit from Doe—who says she was trafficked by Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell to other men in their circle, including Black—brings claims similar to those raised by Cheri Pierson of Virginia. Pierson sued Black in New York State court in November 2022; that case was discontinued earlier this year.

Were it not for changes made to the New York City law in 2022, Doe’s claims would have expired 11 years ago, Clarke said. Since its enactment 24 years ago, the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law has allowed victims of violent gender-motivated crimes to file lawsuits within seven years of the alleged crime. But in January 2022, the New York City Council adopted an amendment—the so-called revival statute—allowing expired claims to be revived beginning six months and ending two years after Sept. 1, 2022.

Clarke rejected Black’s argument that the revival statute is preempted by the state’s Child Victims Act, which also established a revival window for previously barred actions related to sexual abuse of children. That window closed Aug. 14, 2021.

She also said the claims aren’t preempted under the doctrine of conflict preemption—in which a local law is preempted when it curtails or takes away a right or benefit given by the state law—since the state and city laws “further the same goals.”

One of Black’s attorneys, Susan Estrich of Estrich Goldin LLP, said Black has never met Doe and that “her allegations to the contrary are false and sanctionable.” Estrich added the firm intends to hold Doe’s law firm, Wigdor LLP, “fully accountable for filing this frivolous lawsuit, by a motion for sanctions and a complaint for malicious prosecution.”

Black last year sued Wigdor in the New York state court for an assault case—that ultimately got dismissed—in which Wigdor represented Russion model Guzel Ganieva. Black says the firm never properly investigated its “false, life-ruining” allegations against him. New York Supreme Court Justice David Cohen on Sept. 20 denied Wigdor’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

“We believe their actions in this case (and other subsequent cases) were fraudulent and abhorrent and reflected a willful disregard of the facts and evidence in an effort to destroy Mr. Black’s reputation and extract a monetary settlement from him,” Estrich said.

“Leon Black’s frivolous attempt to circumvent allegations of sexual assault against a minor was nothing more than smoke and mirrors as recognized by the court decision denying his motion to dismiss,” said Jeanne M. Christensen, a Wigdor partner representing Doe.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP also represents Black.

The case is Doe v. Black, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:23-cv-06418, 9/27/24.