Judge Imposes Sanctions on Plaintiff and Her Lawyer in Suit Against Billionaire Leon Black

A federal judge imposed sanctions Thursday on a prominent sexual harassment law firm, one of the firm’s lawyers and an unnamed woman who said in a lawsuit that she had been sexually abused by the billionaire investor Leon Black when she was a teenager.

In a scathing 76-page ruling, Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, said a lawyer on the case, Jeanne Christensen, had “lied repeatedly to the court” and Mr. Black’s lawyers.

The judge also said the unnamed plaintiff had “falsified images” in a personal journal she compiled in order to support claims against Mr. Black and his onetime friend Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender. The journal was reviewed by the judge and expected to be used as evidence.

Ms. Christensen is a lawyer with Wigdor, a prominent sexual harassment law firm. Last year, the Wigdor firm withdrew from representing the woman. The woman, who has said she is autistic and neurodivergent, is now representing herself.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/24/business/lawsuit-leon-black-plaintiff-sanctions-epstein.html