The lawyer apparently forgot about his law professor. The client has already admitted to sleeping with female students

Shortly after former FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright left his position as a professor at George Mason University’s ASS Law School, allegations of a long history of inappropriate behavior toward students came to light. The women, now senior attorneys at Biglaw, allege that Wright began sexual relationships with them when they were first-year law students, using the promise of his influence in the antitrust space — and the threat of withdrawing his influence — to keep the affairs going for years. Wright is suing the women, alleging that their stories cost him business opportunities, and is seeking more than $100 million in compensation.

But importantly, his lawsuit does not deny that he began sleeping with these women as 1L. He seems to believe he can successfully argue that the entire $100 million in lost potential business is due to the claim that he used his professional reputation to manipulate women, rather than, say, that professors sleeping with students is simply a toxic albatross for a high-profile corporation , no matter how it happens.

Which is significant at this point because Representative Virginia Foxx, the chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, has written to George Mason administrators asking for information about the school’s investigation into the allegations, copies of its Title IX policies and procedures, and an explanation of what actions the school plans to take to prevent similar incidents in the future.

In response to the Congresswoman, Wright’s lawyer, Jesse Binnall, wrote:

There is a long history of false accusations ruining the lives of innocent people like Joshua Wright, including those upheld in major court decisions.

OK, but… Wright admitted he slept with them.

In his defamation affidavit, he doesn’t deny having sex with 1Ls, he argues that it was all fine because—at least on the surface—it was consensual and that George Mason had no rules against it turning its sections into a dating site. Whether Wright prevails on the arguments central to his legal battles has nothing to do with the issue being investigated by Congress. The committee is investigating “what schools are doing to prevent professors from sleeping with students?” and that specific The case rests on a single accusation that no one really disputes.

Binnall, who has a history of defending men accused of sexual harassment on campuses, appears to confuse Wright with the rest of his clients, who are in fact trying to claim they are victims of false accusations, using Foxx’s investigation into GMU’s policies as a hook to make a general point about Title IX.

And that’s just an odd angle when Wright’s primary defense is “there were no regulations against it at the time,” an argument that could likely benefit from a congressional investigation that blames GMU for running an unregulated fraternity house.

Instead of writing like Binnall, “I am deeply concerned that the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee has bought into the narrative of progressive, supposedly leftist reporting” — remember, the WALL STREET JOURNAL — he could have written about his hope that the Committee “will ultimately determine that Wright never violated any university policies” or something.

Instead of focusing on a progressive agenda, your committee should focus on the Biden administration’s disastrous Title IX final rule, which (in addition to radically redefining the “sex” protections under Title IX to include “gender identity”) will undoubtedly devastate the lives of many students and the lives of school staff and administrators by redefining Title IX and stripping them of basic due process principles that are especially important when dealing with false allegations.

Yeah… that seems to be quite useful for Binnall Other customers. Not very helpful to the client I’m supposedly writing here for.

Joshua Wright’s adviser criticizes congresswoman’s requests for Title IX investigation GMU (Law.com)

Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email him with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a solid dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.