Entrance to the Chrysler building where the Moses & Singer office is located in Manhattan, New York. Photo: Ryland West/ALM Entrance to the Chrysler building where the Moses & Singer office is located in Manhattan, New York. Photo: Ryland West/ALM

A New York state appeals court Tuesday dismissed a defamation action lodged against Moses & Singer and the chair of its litigation department, after a woman claimed the firm, acting with "obsessive, irrepressible and malicious desire," helped to file and publicize a "frivolous" suit that she said falsely accused her of being a prostitute who advertised on an escort website.

The Appellate Division, First Department's dismissal of the defamation action, as to Moses & Singer and partner David Lackowitz but not as to a different defendant, resolves one aspect of a flurry of litigation between the woman and her former Wall Street boss, James Lukezic, who had hired Moses & Singer in 2019 to defend him against her.

Still, accusations and lawsuits centering on the woman and Lukezic, and exactly what happened inside a Palm Beach, Florida, hotel room in 2019, live on.