Partner Effie Blassberger was recently quoted in USA Today discussing key issues facing boxer Mike Tyson as he prepares to defend himself in a civil lawsuit under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which allows alleged victims of sexual offenses for which the statute of limitations has expired one year to file a civil lawsuit.

While the initial lawsuit against Tyson was filed in January 2023, the woman, who says Tyson brutally raped and sexually assaulted her in the early 1990s, told the court in June of this year that she accidentally included the wrong date of the alleged attack in her Complaint.   She filed a motion, seeking leave to file an amended complaint, stating that the incident occurred on March 1, 1990, not March 1, 1991 as stated in her original complaint.

Tyson has denied the allegations.

According to Blassberger, the issue over the incorrect date demonstrates one of the many challenges involved in Adult Survivors Act cases for both the plaintiffs and defendants.

“A lot of the plaintiffs that we represent have extraordinary guilt because they were initially too fearful to report their assault,” Blassberger told the publication. “Now, years later, the ASA and similar revival statutes provide these victims with the opportunity to hold their abusers and enablers accountable. In this case, where three decades have elapsed, it is understandable why the date in the complaint was incorrect, and that fact shouldn’t undermine the plaintiff’s credibility.”

Blassberger also offered the perspective of his defense attorney, explaining that “Not only has the immense passage of time since 1990 or 1991 affected witnesses’ memories and the preservation of evidence, but now a year and half after the case was filed, Mike Tyson is learning … the alleged assault occurred on a different date.”

Read more about the case at USA Today.