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- Deshaun Watson’s lawyer Rusty Hardin and accusers’ lawyer Tony Buzbee are pubicly arguing about which side has reached out to settle lawsuits
- Buzbee doubles down and denies attempting to settle lawsuits in Instagram post
- ESPN reports they have text messages showing someone in Buzbee’s law firm reached out to Watson’s legal team to talk about settling lawsuits.
- More sports news here
Apparently, someone representing Deshaun Watson’s sexual assault accusers has reached out to settle the 22 lawsuits against the Texans’ QB.
On Friday, Watson’s lawyer Rustin Hardin blasted the accusers’ lawyer Tony Buzbee in a statement claiming that Buzbee and his law firm had repeatedly tried to contact them to settle the case despite telling the media otherwise.
Buzbee responded in an Instagram post by saying he had never reached out to Hardin and that Watson’s legal team wanted him to sign an NDA to discuss settling the case.
Tony Buzbee takes to Instagram to call out Rusty Hardin.
Buzbee disagrees that he approached Watson’s camp to settle. Instead, Buzbee posted a confidentiality agreement that Hardin wanted him to sign. “They begged us via the Texans to mediate… We approached them?!? My ass.” pic.twitter.com/HqkldIJwS0
— Dan Lust, Esq. 🎙 (@SportsLawLust) May 14, 2021
ESPN went on to report that they have text messages and recordings showing that someone from Buzbee’s law firm had recently approached Watson’s legal team to discuss “working things out.”
Despite Tony Buzbee posting on IG that his law firm hasn’t approached Rusty Hardin “ever” about settling the lawsuits filed against Deshaun Watson, a member of Buzbee’s team did approach Watson’s legal team recently to discuss the case. https://t.co/EpVeuiTELG
— Sarah Barshop (@sarahbarshop) May 14, 2021
Via ESPN
The text messages and recording reviewed by ESPN show a member of Buzbee’s team approaching Watson’s legal team to discuss “working things out” between Watson and the women who have filed the lawsuits.
Buzbee told ESPN on Friday that he was “the only one at this firm who has the authority to discuss settlement.”
It seems like lawyers on both sides are content on bickering in public until the case either goes to court or gets settled.