Alan Dershowitz, a professor emeritus of law at Harvard University, has filed suit against Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was forced to have sex with him and friends and acquaintances of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The suit was filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court, according to the New York Post.
"Dershowitz never met Giuffre and never had sex with her," his lawyers said in the court papers.
Dershowitz in the past has strongly denied her allegations and publicly called Giuffre a liar. His comments prompted Giuffre to sue him for defamation.
Now, Dershowitz's countersuit claims she only began to accuse him after she hired lawyers to represent her, the Post said.
"She then met her lawyers, who 'pressured' her to falsely accuse Dershowitz, suggesting to her that she could make money by doing so," according to the court papers.
Dershowitz claimed her accusations are part of a "broader conspiracy to subvert the judicial process for the purpose of making false claims against him in order to make a public example out of him, and extort private settlements from other, wealthier individuals associated with Epstein."
And the documents noted: "Committed to her lie, and using Dershowitz's public invitation to sue as cover, Giuffre has now sued Dershowitz for defamation for calling her a liar. But Giuffre is a liar. She has told numerous provable lies about her age, who she has met, whether she had emails concerning Dershowitz, and other fabrications, in addition to her false accusations about sex with Dershowitz."
Epstein hanged himself in his jail cell in August while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.