Jennifer L. Keller

Jennifer L. Keller practices complex commercial litigation as a partner at the trial boutique she co-founded in 2008. She's a former public defender; law partner Kay Anderle is a former prosecutor.

"Business has never been better," Keller said in an email interview. "We had two of our best years during the pandemic, and haven't seen a slowdown. One of our new clients is Snoop Dogg. Another is Chubb Insurance. That gives you some idea of the variety of our cases."

In early April, Keller attained a swift dismissal for client Snoop Dogg of the assault, libel and slander suit filed by a woman who said she was a former dancer who worked, performed and toured with the rap star. She sued anonymously in advance of Snoop Dogg's Super Bowl performance in February. The complaint included sexual battery, sexual assault and sex trafficking allegations regarding an incident said to have occurred nine years earlier. Jane Doe v. Calvin Broadus aka "Snoop Dogg," 2:22-cv-00900 (C.D. Cal., filed Feb. 9, 2022).

Keller called the claims both implausible and time-barred. "If accepted as a sufficient pleading," she wrote in court papers, Plaintiff's claim would transform into federal sex trafficking every alleged sex act between a defendant and a plaintiff with lesser means, fame or influence." The woman voluntarily dismissed the matter.

In another case for a boldface-name client, she represents Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey, accused in a $40 million civil suit of sexual assault in the 1980s by actor Anthony Rapp and a plaintiff who sought to remain anonymous. In June 2021, Keller obtained the anonymous man's dismissal from the suit. Rapp v. Kevin Spacey Fowler aka Kevin Spacey, 1:20-cv-09586 (S.D. N.Y., filed Nov. 13, 2020).

"Our summary judgment motion on the Spacey case is pending, as is plaintiff's motion to remand the case to state court," Keller said. "We see the latter as a pure Hail Mary and expect to remain in federal court. Once that is decided, we should receive a ruling on the summary judgment motion in short order. Trial is set for Oct. 4 in the Southern District of New York. If the MSJ is denied, we look forward to seeing Mr. Spacey vindicated before a jury."

"The plaintiff thinks he can ride the #MeToo wave, which is fairly ridiculous in that his 35-year-old allegations are inconsistent with the facts and even if taken at face value, don't add up to sexual assault," Keller said. "He does a disservice to real victims.

- John Roemer