Willie Gary's Law Firm Dropped From Sexual Assault Suit
Photo courtesy of WillieGary.com
A Florida judge has dismissed Willie Gary’s law firm as a defendant in a civil suit filed by a woman who alleged the high-profile trial lawyer raped her.
Circuit Judge Robert Makemson said the plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe, had not sufficiently connected the rape allegations to the Stuart, Fla., firm of Gary, Williams, Finney, Lewis, McManus, Watson and Sperando, TCPalm.com reports. He gave her 20 days to amend the suit, however.
The plaintiff, who had briefly worked at the law firm, had contended the firm should have known Gary was sexually “aggressive” and that it may have rented the hotel room where the alleged assault occurred, the Palm Beach Post reports.
Gary, who remains a defendant, has filed his own suit against Jane Doe, claiming she had sought to extort as much as $20 million from him to drop the rape allegations. He claims his relationship with the woman was consensual. No criminal charges were filed against Gary.
Past news reports have described Gary as a “flamboyant” trial lawyer “who is as noted for his jet-setting lifestyle as his cases against corporate giants.” He has asked the court to disclose the woman’s name since the suit is civil rather than criminal in nature.
