Woman Claiming Sexual Assault by Justin Fairfax Turns to Lawyers for Kavanaugh Accuser
Debra Katz, founding partner of Katz, Marshall & Banks, has built an increasingly high-profile practice related to sexual misconduct allegations.
February 05, 2019 at 01:24 PM
3 minute read
The woman at the center of sexual assault allegations against Virginia lieutenant governor and Morrison & Foerster partner Justin Fairfax has reportedly retained Katz, Marshall & Banks, the same law firm that represented U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's most high-profile accuser.
Debra Katz, founding partner of Katz, Marshall & Banks, did not respond to requests to confirm or comment on the representation, which was reported Tuesday by National Public Radio and The Associated Press.
Katz has a booming portfolio of matters related to sexual misconduct allegations. In addition to Christine Blasey Ford, whose allegations against Kavanaugh captured the nation's attention and threatened to topple his high court nomination, Katz also counts as clients women who have alleged physical harassment by former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and women who have alleged abuse by Harvey Weinstein, among others. Amid the Kavanaugh controversy, Katz teamed up with Michael Bromwich, formerly of Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber. Bromwich is not involved in the Fairfax matter.
Fairfax vehemently denied ever assaulting anyone in a statement on Monday, vowing that he “will take appropriate legal action against those attempting to spread this defamatory and false allegation.”
The Washington Post reported Monday that it had been approached by Fairfax's accuser, whom the paper did not name, after he was elected in November 2017. The Post said it did not run a story because it could not corroborate her account that Fairfax had sexually assaulted her during the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Fairfax has called his encounter with the woman consensual.
The allegations against Fairfax were first publicized Sunday by Big League Politics, the same political blog that last week published the 1984 medical school yearbook page of Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, featuring a photo of men dressed in blackface and Ku Klux Klan robes. That photo and Northam's evolving response have sparked accelerating calls for Northam's resignation, which would propel Fairfax into the governor's role.
Morrison & Foerster, where Fairfax has remained a partner while fulfilling his part-time duties as lieutenant governor, has not responded to requests for comment.
READ MORE:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllNelson Mullins, Greenberg Traurig, Jones Day Have Established Themselves As Biggest Outsiders in Atlanta Legal Market
7 minute readShareholder Activists Poised to Pounce in 2025. Is Your Board Ready?
GOP Trifecta in Washington Could Put Litigation Finance Industry Under Pressure
NLRB Bans 'Captive Audience' Meetings, Yanking Away Platform Employers Used to Combat Unionizing
Trending Stories
- 1Judicial Ethics Opinion 24-61
- 2Decision of the Day: School District's Probe Was a 'Sham'; Title IX Administrator Showed Sex-Based Bias
- 3US Magistrate Judge Embry Kidd Confirmed to 11th Circuit
- 4Shaq Signs $11 Million Settlement to Resolve Astrals Investor Claims
- 5McCormick Consolidates Two Tesla Chancery Cases
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250