Case in opposition to Leon Black dismissed after plaintiff stated she was ‘medically incapable of constant’ | Jeffrey Epstein

A federal decide has agreed to dismiss a lawsuit introduced in opposition to Leon Black after the plaintiff within the case, who had accused the non-public fairness billionaire of rape, stated she was “medically incapable of constant” and vulnerable to “acute psychiatric disaster”, together with suicide.

The girl identified solely as “Jane Doe”, who claimed in a lawsuit that was first filed in July 2023 that she had been “handed off” to Black by his affiliate Jeffrey Epstein after which sexually assaulted by him, had been appearing and not using a lawyer within the case. Doe has alleged that the assault occurred in 2002, when she was a youngster.

“My request [to dismiss the case with prejudice] will not be a concession in regards to the fact of my allegations, a retraction of my statements, or an acceptance of defendant’s disputed positions; it displays solely the medical actuality that I can now not safely pursue this litigation,” Doe wrote in a authorized submitting submitted to the court docket on 12 October.

An lawyer for Black, who has strongly denied Doe’s allegations, stated his crew was happy that the decide had dismissed the lawsuit.

Susan Estrich, Black’s lawyer, stated in a press release that the lawsuit ought to by no means have been introduced within the first place and repeated earlier claims that Doe’s criticism was a “work of fiction” crammed with lies and fabrications. In a authorized submitting, Black’s lawyer Michael Carlinsky stated Doe’s request to dismiss the case – which Black didn’t oppose – “has been made voluntarily by Ms Doe with none settlement, compromise, or inducement by Mr Black”.

The Wall Street billionaire, who was Epstein’s good friend and former consumer, has individually come underneath fireplace in Washington, the place the US House of Representatives voted unanimously in September to carry him in prison contempt for defying two congressional subpoenas ordered by the House oversight committee, which is investigating Epstein, his relationships to highly effective folks and the federal government’s dealing with of Epstein investigations.

One of the congressional subpoenas that Black was accused of violating would have pressured him at hand over all nondisclosure agreements to which he was a celebration. Black attended a voluntary closed-door interview with the oversight committee in June however walked out shortly after it began and was accused by members of stonewalling. He then declined to seem for a subsequent congressional deposition. Black’s attorneys have stated he was being focused by a “political witch-hunt” and filed a lawsuit in opposition to the oversight committee to dam the subpoenas, claiming the committee was exceeding its authority.

The contempt decision has been referred to the US Department of Justice, although it isn’t clear if the division will pursue prison prosecution.

Black has emerged as a key goal of congressional investigators due to his relationship with Epstein, who offered monetary providers to Black between 2012 and 2017. After Epstein pleaded responsible to Florida state prostitution costs in 2008, together with procuring a minor, Black grew to become Epstein’s largest client, paying him a complete of roughly $170m in charges, in accordance with an investigation by the Senate finance committee’s rating member, Ron Wyden.

In his assertion earlier than the oversight committee in June, Black wrote: “I didn’t learn about this nefarious exercise till Epstein was charged with trafficking in July 2019.” But Black acknowledged that he did learn about Epstein pleading responsible in “2008 to state costs referring to prostitution involving a minor”.

Epstein died in jail in 2019 after he was charged with intercourse trafficking.

The dismissal of the Doe v Black lawsuit comes at what may have been a essential second within the case, which was being heard within the southern district of New York.

Both sides had been ordered to evaluation 1000’s of pages of paperwork that have been on account of be unsealed, which have been associated each to that case in addition to a separate class motion lawsuit introduced by Epstein victims in opposition to JP Morgan, during which Doe obtained a monetary settlement. The evaluation course of required either side to look at paperwork and suggest redactions earlier than they have been to be made public. In a latest submitting, Doe stated she wanted authorized help to finish the duty. In response to that request, Judge Jessica Clarke urged Doe contact the City Bar Justice Center, which is described as a professional bono authorized service to low-income purchasers.

In a later eight-page letter requesting the dismissal from her case in opposition to Black, Doe, who stated she is autistic and has post-traumatic stress dysfunction, stated that on reflection she believed neither further time nor restricted authorized help may “handle the medical hazard related to my continued substantive participation”.

“My treating doctor has expressed critical concern concerning the results of the litigation over an prolonged interval and has repeatedly suggested that I disengage,” she wrote.

Doe stated her autism and PTSD materially affected her potential to “course of complicated, ambiguous, quickly altering, and socially mediated data underneath adversarial stress”. She added that – as a result of she was representing herself within the case – she had been uncovered by the redaction course of to 1000’s of pages containing “graphic accounts of sexual trauma, [and] intimate medical and familial data”.

Doe had initially been represented by attorneys on the Wigdor legislation agency, which is understood for representing sexual assault victims. Her former attorneys withdrew from the case in April 2025.

Black’s authorized crew stated they supposed to proceed to pursue litigation in opposition to Wigdor over authorized charges, which is a place Wigdor is anticipated to problem.

Doe confronted important setbacks over the course of her lawsuit in opposition to Black, but additionally some victories. Clarke, the decide who was presiding over the lawsuit, sanctioned Doe and her former lawyer at Wigdor in April for “critical, sanctionable misconduct on this case” and stated the lawyer had “repeatedly lied to the court docket and opposing counsel”. But the decide additionally dominated on the time that the high-stakes lawsuit may proceed.

The case was dismissed with prejudice, which suggests Doe can not convey the matter to court docket once more. The Guardian sought a remark from Doe however she didn’t reply to an e mail request.