Leon Black, rape accuser, Guzel Ganieva to represent himself

The law firm, which represents a former Russian model who accused Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black of raping her, said she was fired and asked a judge to have her formally withdrawn from the case.

Guzel Ganieva quit representing Wigdor LLP Tuesday and intends to represent himself, according to a motion filed Wednesday in a New York state court in Manhattan.

Jeanne Christensen, a partner of Wigdor, said there had been an “irrevocable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship” justifying the firm’s withdrawal.

She didn’t give details, citing attorney-client confidentiality, but said Ganieva has “ample time” to prepare for a trial that is likely more than a year away.

Ganieva is a law school graduate, Christensen added.

Efforts to reach Ganieva on Thursday were not immediately successful.

Christensen declined further comment.

Ganieva sued Black in June 2021, saying the billionaire defamed her by falsely claiming she tried to blackmail him after she accused him of rape.

Black has denied the rape took place and said Ganieva broke a non-disclosure agreement over what he called their “consensual” six-year affair, which ended around 2014.

Susan Estrich, an attorney for Black, declined in a statement to comment on the Wigdor firm’s withdrawal. She claimed Ganieva’s allegations against Black were “provenly false”.

The Wigdor firm is still representing another woman, Cheri Pierson, in its lawsuit accusing Black of raping her at the late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion two decades ago.

Estrich has described this lawsuit as “baseless”.