Leon Black rape accuser fires regulation agency, plans to characterize herself

The regulation agency representing a former Russian mannequin who accused Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black of raping her stated it has been fired, and requested a choose to let it formally withdraw from the case.

In line with a Wednesday submitting in a New York state courtroom in Manhattan, Guzel Ganieva terminated Wigdor LLP’s illustration on Tuesday, and intends to characterize herself.

Jeanne Christensen, a Wigdor accomplice, stated there had been an “irrevocable breakdown of the attorney-client relationship” that justified the agency’s withdrawal.

She didn’t present specifics, citing attorney-client confidentiality, however stated Ganieva would have “ample time” to arrange for any trial, which is probably going greater than a 12 months away.

Ganieva is a regulation college graduate, Christensen added.

Efforts to achieve Ganieva on Thursday weren’t instantly profitable. 

Christensen declined further remark.

Ganieva sued Black in June 2021, saying the billionaire defamed her by falsely claiming she tried to extort him after accusing him of rape.

Black has denied that the rape occurred, and stated Ganieva breached a nondisclosure settlement about what he has referred to as their “consensual” six-year affair ending round 2014.

Susan Estrich, a lawyer for Black, in a press release declined to touch upon the Wigdor agency’s withdrawal. She maintained that Ganieva’s accusations towards Black have been “demonstrably false.”

The Wigdor agency nonetheless represents one other lady, Cheri Pierson, in her lawsuit accusing Black of raping her 20 years in the past in late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan.

Estrich has referred to as that lawsuit “baseless.”