Mark Kaplan – a celebrity lawyer whose previous clients include actor Stephen Collins and Kevin Federline – has been accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a client in a lawsuit.
Kathy Hakakian says that Kaplan repeatedly subjected her to unwanted sexual contact, advances and remarks, including groping and kissing her, TMZ reported.
At one point, she says, he pulled over on a darkened street while driving her home and began molesting her, saying: ‘Now I’m motivated to give your case my undivided attention.’
Accused: Mark Kaplan (left) has been accused of forcing himself on former client Kathy Hakakian (right) after she hired him to process her divorce. She is now suing him
Hakakian, who hired Kaplan for her divorce case, says that car encounter occurred in November 2016, after he demanded she meet him in an LA bar.
He then encouraged her to drink and tricked her into giving him her phone, where he found a nude photo of her, she claims.
She says he then grabbed her and put his tongue down her throat before insisting that he drive her home – at which point, she claims, he groped her.
Hakakian continued to employ him and didn’t complain, she claims, because she was worried that he would drop her case if she said anything.
She alleges that he continued to abuse her, at one point meeting her for lunch at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills and asking: ‘How’s your p***y doing?
‘If you let me see another naked picture of you, it will really help me to focus on your case.’ She got up and walked out, the suit says.
‘Groped’: Hakakian says she was groped, verbally harassed and forcibly kissed by Kaplan. She said she kept paying Kaplan because she didn’t want him to drop her case
She says he also told her during a deposition meeting in her office that ‘When this case is over, I’m going to f**k your p***y so hard from behind you won’t know what hit you.’
Hakakian says she told Kaplan’s receptionist about the remark, and that she replied: ‘This isn’t the first time I’ve heard that.’
Kaplan has been married to his second wife, Caroline Kozuch, since 1988, according to his IMDB biography.
Kaplan denies the claims, saying that Hakakian is trying to get revenge after he sued her in August for not paying $150,000 in bills.
He says she was unhappy with the result of the divorce, and settled it with a different lawyer.
The claims are ‘wild and untrue,’ he adds, and says he’s confident that he will be vindicated in court.
Denial: She also said she was propositioned in this Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills. Kaplan denies all claims and says it’s revenge after he sued her for unpaid bills this month