Mega Edition: Judge Kaplan Waves Off Andrew's Request To Drop The Virginia Lawsuit (9/24/26)

In January 2022, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Prince Andrew’s effort to have Virginia Giuffre’s civil sexual-abuse lawsuit thrown out, dismantling several of the arguments advanced by the prince’s legal team. Andrew’s attorneys had argued that Giuffre’s 2009 settlement with Jeffrey Epstein protected Andrew from being sued because the agreement released certain “potential defendants.” Kaplan ruled that the language was open to more than one reasonable interpretation and could not be used at that stage to dismiss Giuffre’s case. He also rejected the defense’s claim that Giuffre’s allegations were too vague, writing that her complaint identified specific alleged incidents, circumstances and locations. Kaplan pointedly noted that Andrew’s assertion that he could not adequately respond to the allegations was undercut by the fact that his lawyers had already denied them in unequivocal terms.

Kaplan made clear that the court was not deciding whether Giuffre’s allegations were true, but he refused to allow Andrew’s lawyers to use disputed factual arguments to kill the lawsuit before discovery and further proceedings. The ruling meant the case would move forward, exposing Andrew to depositions, document production and the possibility of a trial if no settlement was reached. It was a significant legal setback for the prince because his team had spent months trying to stop the case on procedural and contractual grounds before Giuffre’s claims could be fully tested. With Kaplan denying the motion to dismiss, Andrew lost one of his most important avenues for avoiding the litigation altogether, and the lawsuit proceeded toward discovery before the parties ultimately reached a settlement the following month.












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