Conor McGregor’s Florida sexual assault case moves forward as lawyer responds to civil lawsuit
Conor McGregor is facing fresh legal troubles as a civil sexual assault lawsuit against him in Florida looks set to move forward following a response from his lawyers
More than two years after the alleged incident at Miami’s Kaseya Center on June 9, 2023, McGregor’s legal team has agreed to waive the need for a formal summons service.
His lawyer, Barbara Llanes, is poised to respond directly to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida , where the plaintiff, identified under the pseudonym “Jane Doe,” filed a civil lawsuit in January.
It means agents no longer need to serve McGregor papers in Ireland, according to a notice filed on Monday, which the Irish Independent first reviewed.
In the suit, Doe, 49, accused an “intoxicated” McGregor, 37, of slamming her face against a bathroom stall and placing her in an armlock before raping her.
The woman alleged that McGregor engaged “in unlawful sexual contact” to fulfil his “own sexual gratification” and to “degrade” her. McGregor denies any accusations of wrongdoing.
An incident report was filed with the Miami Police Department less than 48 hours after the alleged incident on June 11, 2023.
In October 2023, Florida prosecutors declined to pursue criminal charges in the alleged assault with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, citing insufficient evidence in the case.
Llanes, McGregor’s lawyer, has previously dismissed Doe’s accusations as “baseless,” and told the Irish Independent last week that “the plaintiff has cycled through numerous lawyers.”
“My client’s account has been consistent throughout and is supported by an extensive police investigation into the matter,” she continued.
“Following that investigation, which included a thorough analysis of the video evidence and interviews with eyewitnesses, authorities determined that there was no case to pursue.”
Doe’s lawyer, James Dunn, has attempted to serve a summons on McGregor concerning the lawsuit since Florida’s Southern District Court issued it on January 15 this year.
Agents in Ireland were instructed to serve McGregor after Dunn forwarded the summons to the Central Office of the High Court in Ireland, following the lawyer’s grant of a 180-day extension to formal service in April.
An Irish court official reportedly confirmed receipt of the summons and had instructed Irish agents to serve the document on McGregor.
Despite his legal woes, McGregor announced in March that he would run for the Irish presidency in elections later this year after meeting President Donald Trump in the White House on St. Patrick’s Day.
The move also comes weeks after McGregor dropped his application to introduce new evidence in his appeal of a High Court jury’s finding in a civil trial that he raped Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel room in 2018.
McGregor was ordered to pay Hand, a 35-year-old hairdresser, more than €248,000 in damages and to pay the costs of taking the civil action against him. McGregor has maintained his innocence in the case.
The Independent has contacted Llanes for more information.
