CNN
—
Attorney Tony Buzbee is suing Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, accusing the leisure firm of soliciting his agency’s purchasers in an effort to get them to sue his agency.
In a separate lawsuit, Buzbee is representing a girl recognized as “Jane Doe” who alleges she was raped by Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jay-Z greater than 20 years in the past, when she was then 13. Jay-Z, whose given identify is Shawn Carter, has denied the allegations and sued Buzbee for extortion, claiming that he’s shaking down celebrities for his personal private acquire.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Texas, Buzbee claims that Roc Nation has financed and Carter’s attorneys on the legislation agency Quinn Emanuel have orchestrated an effort to solicit his purchasers to carry circumstances in opposition to Buzbee.
“Defendants have conspired to hinder justice by participating shadowy operatives to illegally search out greater than two dozen present and former purchasers of The Buzbee Law Firm to persuade these purchasers to carry frivolous circumstances in opposition to The Buzbee Law Firm,” the lawsuit states.
Buzbee claims within the lawsuit that greater than two dozen purchasers of his agency have been solicited, alleging that some have been approached by people who “fake to work for the State of Texas” who’ve “flashed pretend badges.”
The lawsuit states that his agency’s purchasers have supplied audio of alleged interactions by which the people have been supplied cash to take motion in opposition to Buzbee. The swimsuit contains transcripts of the alleged conversations. Former purchasers started to be contacted after Buzbee had despatched a requirement letter to Carter’s attorneys in November, in response to the lawsuit.
Buzbee informed CNN on Wednesday that he’ll present the courtroom the audio recordings as proof, ought to they be requested. (CNN has not listened to the audio recordings and can’t independently confirm the authenticity of the transcripts included in Wednesday’s submitting.)
“Paying people to file false claims is unethical and felony within the State of Texas. Impersonating a state official is a criminal offense. In no less than one case, Defendants’ brokers supplied as a lot as $10,000 to a former shopper of the Buzbee Law Firm to sue the agency,” the grievance reads. “Their brokers have been caught on audiotape, purple handed.”
Buzbee is suing Roc Nation, Quinn Emanuel and others he claims are related within the so-called solicitation “scheme” for barratry and conspiracy to commit barratry within the state of Texas.
The swimsuit is being filed on behalf of a former shopper of The Buzbee Law Firm, who claims he was topic to solicitation and supplied cash to sue Buzbee’s agency. The grievance states that this former shopper was contacted “out of the blue” by two people claiming to be investigators wanting into Buzbee’s agency.
To date, Buzbee’s agency on behalf of purchasers has filed 20 lawsuits in opposition to Combs that embody allegations of sexual assault. Attorneys for Combs have denied the allegations.
“This conduct was particularly focused at our agency so we might not pursue circumstances associated to the Diddy litigation,” Buzbee informed CNN in an announcement. “But, we won’t be bullied or intimidated.”
A spokesperson for Roc Nation, the leisure firm which Carter based in 2008, denied Buzbee’s accusations, calling the lawsuit “baloney.”
“Tony Buzbee’s baloney lawsuit in opposition to Roc Nation is nothing however one other sham,” a spokesperson for Roc Nation informed CNN in an announcement. “It’s a pathetic try to distract and deflect consideration. This sideshow gained’t change the last word consequence and true justice will likely be served quickly.”
A spokesperson for Quinn Emanuel additionally denied the accusations.
“We assume this frivolous lawsuit is an try to distract from his different frivolous lawsuits,” the agency’s spokesperson informed CNN. “We do not know what he’s speaking about.”
At a gathering with reporters earlier this week, Carter’s lawyer, Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel, highlighted numerous inconsistencies in Doe’s case that he mentioned proves his shopper is harmless. When requested by a reporter about investigators who’ve allegedly been employed to analyze Buzbee’s agency, Spiro mentioned his agency had no involvement.
On Wednesday, Spiro in a brand new submitting requested the courtroom for an order to protect proof, citing what they allege is Buzbee’s “misconduct” in dealing with Doe’s case, and to strike her grievance. In the submitting, Spiro wrote that Buzbee “did not vet” Doe’s allegations earlier than submitting his grievance in opposition to Carter. Spiro’s submitting additionally mentioned that inconsistencies in Jane Doe’s case show that her allegations in opposition to Jay-Z are “meritless.”
Buzbee on Monday informed CNN that his agency vetted Doe’s claims by way of a collection of interviews with a “seasoned investigator” and by performing a background examine on her. He acknowledged that his agency remains to be persevering with to vet her claims.
