Panel Finds Ex-Allen & Overy Lawyer Must Take Psych Test
Allen & Overy scored an unusual appellate win last week in its fight with a onetime lawyer at the firm who was fired after authoring an erotic novel, persuading a court in New York that the woman, who is seeking $15 million for intentional infliction of emotional distress, must submit to a psychological examination.
February 23, 2015 at 06:00 AM
3 minute read
Allen & Overy scored an unusual appellate win last week in its fight with a onetime lawyer at the firm who was fired after authoring an erotic novel, persuading a court in New York that the woman must submit to a psychological examination.
Deidre Clark—who, under the name Deidre Dare, wrote and self-published a serialized, steamy novel about an expatriate living in Russia—pursued wrongful firing and sexual harassment claims against Allen & Overy after she was terminated in 2009. Prior to that, she had worked in the Magic Circle firm's Moscow office as a senior attorney.
After an initial case filed in London was thrown out on jurisdictional grounds, she turned to New York, where Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman (See Profile) has so far allowed her case to proceed. Clark, a Columbia University School of Law graduate and member of the New York bar, is representing herself. Lawyers at Proskauer Rose, including partner Kathleen McKenna, are defending Allen & Overy.
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