Businessman Leon Black is accused of retaliating against New York law firm Wigdor LLP for its representation of women who have accused the Apollo Global Management founder of sexual assault and rape.
Black has filed three lawsuits against Wigdor since 2021 linked to the firm’s representation of Russian model Guzel Ganieva and Virginia woman Cheri Pierson in an attempt to target firms for “zealously advocating for clients” in a way that’s “designed to cow the plaintiffs’ bar,” Wigdor says in its complaint filed Monday in New York County Supreme Court.
The lawsuit is the latest in a years-long battle between Black and Wigdor in which both sides refuse to back down.
Wigdor says Black’s lawsuits violate the state’s anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Petition and Participation law, which aims to protect New Yorkers from frivolous lawsuits.
“With his series of SLAPP suits against Wigdor, Black clearly hopes to make it hard for potential accusers to even find representation,” the complaint says.
Black’s latest suit against the firm claims it co-opted the #MeToo movement by pursuing baseless rape claims for a nine-figure payoff. He has enlisted powerful white-collar litigators, including Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan’s Michael Carlinsky and Estrich Goldin’s Susan Estrich, to bring his suits.
New York federal and state courts have dismissed Black’s RICO, defamation, tortious interference, and malicious prosecution claims against Wigdor and Ganieva, and denied his motion for sanctions against the firm for its work in the Ganieva and Pierson lawsuits.
Emails between Black, Jeffrey Epstein, and former Paul Weiss Chair Brad Karp in which the three “devised ways to surveil and retaliate against Ganieva” show Black’s litigation against Wigdor “was not only frivolous and without substantial—or any—basis, but is yet another instance of retaliation in a decade-long campaign of intimidation and retribution against anyone who dares hold him to account,” the complaint says.
The firm wants Black held liable for harm and reputational damage, and wants him to pay attorneys’ fees.
“Wigdor has abused the legal system, manipulated the media and they are desperate to avoid being held accountable for their own failings,” Estrich said.
Giskan Solotaroff & Anderson LLP represents Wigdor.
The case is Wigdor LLP v. Black, N.Y. Sup. Ct., docket number unavailable, complaint filed 3/2/26.
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