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Subject: Epstein Ducks Modeling Agency Suit Over Improper Service - Law360
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2019 10:38:11 +0000
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Epstein Ducks Modeling Agency Suit Over Improper Service
By Carolina Bolado
Share us on: https://www.law360.com/articles/1153140/epstein-
ducks-modeling-agercy-suit-over-improper-service
Law360 (April 24, 2019, 6:45 PM EDT) --
Billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein ducked a
modeling agency's lawsuit Wednesday when a
Florida appeals court ruled the business had failed to
properly serve him with the complaint at his primary
residence on a private island in the Caribbean.
Florida's Third District Court of Appeal said service
of the complaint by Miami-based MC2 Model &
Talent LLC and its owner, Jean-Luc Brunel, on an
office supervisor at Epstein's U.S. Virgin Islands
business address did not comply with the
requirements under Florida law and that the suit
should be dismissed without prejudice, meaning it
could be reified.
The appeals court agreed with Epstein, who had
argued that Brunel and MC2 never attempted to serve
him at his primary residence, a private island called
Little St. James in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"Brunel and MC2 attempt to excuse strict compliance
by arguing that the legislature could not have
contemplated a lifestyle like Epstein's," the Third
District said. "But Brunel and MC2 never tried to
serve Epstein at his place of abode."
Epstein argued that service of process takes place
routinely on private property and that his private
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island is accessible by boat, has a large dock and is
easily located on any map. Nothing would have
prevented a process server from tying up to the dock
and asking for him, Epstein said.
Brunel and MC2 sued Epstein in January 2015 in
Miami, claiming the notoriety and bad publicity
stemming from sexual assault and prostitution
charges against Epstein cost the agency business.
Brunel has been linked to Epstein and has been
accused by at least one victim of supplying Epstein
with underage girls.
Epstein pled guilty in 2007 to felony charges
involving solicitation of prostitution and procurement
of minors for prostitution. He served 13 months in
prison and is a registered sex offender.
Brunel tried to serve Epstein at his residential address
in New York, but Epstein successfully moved to
quash service, according to the opinion. Brunel then
tried the Virgin Islands business address, which the
trial court deemed acceptable in September 2018.
But the Third District said that in order for substitute
service to be acceptable under Florida law, it must be
made on an individual doing business as a sole
proprietorship. The Virgin Islands business is not a
sole proprietorship owned by Epstein, according to
the appeals court.
In February, a Florida federal judge ruled that
prosecutors, including then-U.S. Attorney and current
Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, violated the
Crime Victims' Rights Act when they signed a
nonprosecution agreement with Epstein without
notifying his victims.
The Miami Herald, in an investigative report
published late last year, printed emails showing that
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the alleged victims were deliberately excluded from
the deal cut between Acosta, who was then the U.S.
attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and
Epstein's defense team.
Epstein's alleged victims — numbering in the dozens
— claim he lured teenage girls to his Palm Beach,
Florida, mansion to engage in sexual acts. They have
not had the opportunity to testify in court in any
proceeding thus far, according to the Herald report.
An attorney for Brunel declined to comment
Wednesday. Attorneys for Epstein did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
Judges Kevin Emas, Edwin A. Scales RI and Norma
S. Lindsey sat for the Third District.
Epstein is represented by Scott J. Link and Kara
Berard Rockenbach of Link & Rockenbach PA.
Brunel and MC2 are represented by Joe Titone.
The case is Epstein v. Brunel et al., case number
3D18-1997, in the Third District Court of Appeal of
Florida.
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