There’s a hard truth about some attorneys that too many people ignore: not all of them actually care about justice. Sure, they’ll wrap themselves in grand rhetoric—claiming to fight for the little guy, to stand up to power, to wear the white hat. But peel back the layers, and you’ll see it’s all about their own profit and self-promotion. Worse, their games don’t just hurt the truly injured who deserve real justice—they also destroy the lives of those they wrongfully target. This isn’t justice. It’s a perversion of the legal system, and it’s time people start calling it out.
Recently, the Wall Street Journal and New York Post reported on the questionable tactics used by a lawyer who virtually invented the “#MeToo” movement. The articles paint a picture of the attorney, Gloria Allred, as allegedly being willing to strong-arm clients into accepting confidential deals and collecting a majority of funds paid to the women she represents. Then there is Michael Avenatti (better known as Prisoner 86743-054), the former trial attorney who is serving time for extorting Nike and using client settlement money for his own benefit.
Tony Buzbee is another plaintiff’s attorney who seems to have veered into ethical gray areas and lined his own pockets. Last year, Buzbee filed a claim on behalf of Jane Doe, who has now admitted on a recording to falsely claiming that Shawn Carter, known as Jay-Z, sexually assaulted her when she was just 13-years-old. Within days of naming Jay-Z in her suit, NBC News discovered numerous inconsistencies in Doe’s story after Buzbee trotted her out for an interview. Doe eventually withdrew her claim against Jay-Z with prejudice, meaning she cannot file it again. Jay-Z has now filed his own lawsuit against Buzbee, his colleague, and Doe for lying and abusing the legal process.
What do we now know about Doe, and what did Buzbee know (or should have known) before running out and seeking a payday on the back of Jay-Z? Recent reporting by people with knowledge of Jane Doe’s identity reveal the sad reality of her life. She has struggled with addiction, required court-ordered mental health treatment, and lost custody of one of her children. She requires significant financial support from her parents, who recently declared bankruptcy. According to her physician in a public filing, she has a “[h]istory of hallucinations . . . [and hearing] voices that other people don’t hear.” She also admittedly lied about her ex-partner molesting her child.
There is more. But none of this is intended as an attack on Doe, who would likely benefit from a real advocate who puts her interests first. Instead, it highlights what happens when someone like Buzbee exploits the misfortune of others for his own benefit.
In this instance, Buzbee recognized opportunity in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ indictment for sexual assault. He held a press conference, threatening lawsuits against anyone that so much as attended the same event as Mr. Combs. He posted a 1-800 hotline to recruit potential plaintiffs. When Doe signed on, it seems that even basic vetting of her claims was non-existent. Buzbee’s scheme appears to have been to threaten celebrities, like Jay-Z, with lawsuits unless they paid up.
Money and self-promotion appear to have been Buzbee’s ultimate objectives - not his clients’ well-being or determination of the truth. Doe’s story completely fell apart at the slightest inquiry into her claims. Any competent attorney could have seen that her tale of assault was false. Worse than Buzbee turning a blind eye to allegations lacking basic credibility, however, Doe claims in a recently released audio clip that Buzbee pushed her to accuse Jay-Z, even though she admits he didn’t assault her. (Trying to save himself while throwing her under the bus, Buzbee bizarrely responded by releasing his own recordings of Doe, in which she denies making statements that she unquestionably made in earlier recordings.)
This isn’t the only blight on Buzbee’s record. He has been sued for extortion for “leveling baseless, fabricated, and malicious allegations at high profile individuals and threatening to name them publicly if they fail to pay exorbitant sums of money.” And one former client alleges that Buzbee kept 74 percent of the settlement from his work-place injury lawsuit.
But Doe’s case against Jay-Z says even more about Buzbee. He used Doe. And now, she will likely be caught up in the fallout from her baseless allegations against Jay-Z.
This is the opposite of justice. Buzbee has harmed the person whom he is supposed to protect. Our legal system exists to hold responsible parties to account. In doing so, true victims have an opportunity to pursue justice while society benefits from the restoration of order. Cases brought by attorneys like Buzbee, where baseless allegations are made in search of profit, do the opposite. They undermine the claims of real-world victims.
Unfortunately, there are all too many cases where trial lawyers lose sight of whose interests they are supposed to protect. If the integrity of our civil justice system is to be preserved, courts must zealously enforce the ethical obligations governing attorneys. That means lawyers like Tony Buzbee need to undertake a reasonable investigation before making financial demands or filing lawsuits. Those who fail to do so should pay a price of their own.
Andrew Langer is the President, Institute for Liberty.
Timothy Head is the President of Unify.US.
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