it with an increasing number of sexual harassment allegations, comedian Bill Cosby in October hired a new lawyer, Christopher Tayback, a former prosecutor and a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

Tayback will replace Martin Singer of LA's Lavely & Singer in one of several civil sexual assault cases that Cosby faces, defending the 78-year-old comedian against claims relating to an allegation that he sexually molested then-15-year-old Judy Huth at the Playboy Mansion in 1974. More than 50 women have accused the actor of molestation or abuse, and at least six suits are pending in connection with these allegations. Cosby denies the accusations.

Tayback, a former assistant U.S. attorney and Los Angeles County prosecutor, has served on Quinn Emanuel's team enforcing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' copyright to its gold Oscar statuettes. His father, actor Vic Tayback, was best known as Mel in the TV series “Alice” that ran from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s.