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Leon Black accuser's law firm says it was fired, seeks to withdraw

March 30, 2023 at 12:30 pm EDT

NEW YORK - The law firm representing a former Russian model who accused Apollo Global Management Inc co-founder Leon Black of raping her said it has been fired, and asked a judge to let it formally withdraw from the case.

According to a Wednesday filing in a New York state court in Manhattan, Guzel Ganieva terminated Wigdor LLP's representation on Tuesday, and intends to represent herself.

Jeanne Christensen, a Wigdor partner, said there had been an "irrevocable breakdown of the attorney-client relationship" that justified the firm's withdrawal.

She did not provide specifics, citing attorney-client confidentiality, but said Ganieva would have "ample time" to prepare for any trial, which is likely more than a year away.

Ganieva is a law school graduate, Christensen added.

Efforts to reach Ganieva on Thursday were not immediately successful. Christensen declined additional comment.

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 said Ganieva breached a nondisclosure agreement about what he has called their "consensual" six-year affair ending around 2014.

Susan Estrich, a lawyer for Black, in a statement declined to comment on the Wigdor firm's withdrawal. She maintained that Ganieva's accusations against Black were "demonstrably false."

The Wigdor firm still represents another woman, Cheri Pierson, in her lawsuit accusing Black of raping her two decades ago in late financier Jeffrey Epstein's mansion in Manhattan. Estrich has called that lawsuit "baseless."

The case is Ganieva v. Black, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 155262/2021.

For Ganieva: Jeanne Christensen, at Wigdor

For Black: Susan Estrich, at Estrich Goldin

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Mark Porter)

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Leon Black

Leon Black is CEO and co-founder of Apollo Global Management LP, a LBO specialist fund, which manages more than 60 billion of dollars in assets mainly for institutional investors.

After a degree in philosophy and history obtained at Dartmouth College in 1973, Leon Black continues his studies and in 1975 he reached an MBA from Harvard Business School. In 1977 he joined the Drexel Burnham Lambert Incorporated, investment bank, where he worked as General Director, Director of Fusion & Acquisitions, and Co-director of the Corporate Finance Department.

During 13 years, Leon Black popularizes the LBO, and makes a name for oneself working with investor as Carl Icahn and T. Boone Pickens, by financing their hostile takeover bids. Drexel meets a catastrophic end, his director and mentor Michael Milken will end up in prison. Black escapes uninjured from this affair.

With capital recovered from Drexel, Leon Black founded in 1990 Apollo Management with Joshua Harris and Marc Rowan, as well managers of Drexel. He also founded Apollo Investment Corporation, and then a real estate’s branch called Area Property Partners.

Director of Rentals and Sirius Satellite Radio, Leon Black is also director of Dartmouth College, Museum of Modern Art and Mount Sinai Hospital. He is also member of National Advisory Committee of JP Morgan Chase and board member of Faster Cures.

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Apollo Advisors LP Apollo Advisors LP Financial ConglomeratesFinance Apollo Advisors LP provides financial services. Its services include funding, financing, venture capital, research & management guidance, and administration services. It undertakes distressed assets such as junk bonds, troubled companies, and real estate. The company was founded by Leon D. Black and Craig M. Cogut in 1990 and is headquartered in Purchase, NY.	Founder

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