Prince Andrew hired a lawyer who has represented Armie Hammer to defend him against a sexual abuse lawsuit.- The attorney argued in a virtual hearing Monday that the Duke of York hasn't been effectively served with a lawsuit from
Jeffrey Epstein accuserVirginia Giuffre . - He claimed a "secret settlement agreement" frees Prince Andrew of liability in the lawsuit.
Prince Andrew is now challenging a sexual abuse lawsuit from a Jeffrey Epstein accuser with the help of a Hollywood lawyer.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre alleged in a lawsuit filed last month in federal court in New York that the royal sexually abused her in the early 2000s at Epstein's New York City mansion, when she was 17.
Prince Andrew, who has repeatedly denied Giuffre's allegations and said he doesn't recall ever meeting her, didn't appear Monday at a virtual hearing.
His attorney Andrew Brettler, who has defended actor Armie Hammer and former "Saturday Night Live" star Horatio Sanz against sexual assault allegations, told Judge Lewis A. Kaplan that Giuffre had not effectively served his client with the lawsuit, which he referred to as "baseless, non-viable, and possibly unlawful."
Brettler initially asked that a UK court be given time to weigh in on whether Prince Andrew was properly served with the lawsuit. Kaplan said he believed that was unnecessary, and that he would authorize additional means to serve the Duke of York with the lawsuit if Giuffre requested it.
Kaplan gave her attorney, David Boies, a week to file a request that the court authorize a different manner to serve Prince Andrew, who is reportedly staying at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, with the lawsuit.
A 'secret settlement'
At the virtual hearing, Brettler asked that Giuffre's attorneys provide him with a copy of a "secret settlement agreement" that he argued would protect his client from liability. He said that the document, which remains under seal, has already protected other individuals accused of similar conduct.
Boies said that was a mischaracterization of what happened with the document, and argued that Prince Andrew doesn't have a right to make discovery requests while he's still contesting that he's been served with the lawsuit.
While the contents of the settlement agreement are unknown, Kaplan noted that its unsealing is currently being litigated in front of Judge Loretta A. Preska in the Southern District of New York.
Court documents show Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor who Giuffre previously sued and accused of sexual abuse, wrote to Preska last week asking that a 2009 settlement between Giuffre and Epstein be unsealed. Dershowitz wrote that the settlement prompted Giuffre to drop a battery claim against him last month, and suggested it would be relevant in the lawsuit against Prince Andrew as well.
Kaplan told Brettler that he believed it would be most orderly to let Preska handle the issue of whether the settlement be unsealed, while he works on the issue of whether or not Prince Andrew has been served.
"If there is a document out there that would provide your client with an affirmative defense to the claim made in this action, or help you out in England, or both, you'd like to see it sooner or later," he said. "I understand that."
The next hearing in the lawsuit is slated for October 13, and attorneys are expected to appear in person, Kaplan said.