Who is Olga Izmaylova? Everything about Stephen Harper’s lawyer who filed lawsuit against Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard recently had a lawsuit filed against him this week by a man named Stephen Harper, who has contracted lawyer Olga Izmaylova to represent him.
According to court documents, he and Howard were involved in a sexual encounter back in 2021 that Harper alleges wasn't consensual in nature. Given the public nature of the case, many have been wondering about Harper's lawyer.
Internet searches return a number of sources regarding Olga Izmaylova and her background in law, which has seen her as a managing partner for six years. Prior to that, she began her legal journey by getting her JD at Miami, she then took the next step by becoming a legal assistant at Near Law Firm while attending Georgia State.
According to Atlanta Criminal Defense Team Sabbak & Izmaylova's website, Olga Izmaylova has always been a criminal defense attorney. Based on her biography on the site, Izmaylova has always been passionate about justice, and seeing people going through the court system treated with decency.
"My disdain for bullies has turned into my passion for protecting people’s rights and fighting for justice. Regardless of guilt or innocence, in my opinion, each person deserves to be treated with decency and respect," Izmaylova biography mentions in part.
"Nothing is more upsetting to me than watching prosecutors take advantage of vulnerable people. Which is why I believe it is my job to make sure that police and prosecutors are lawfully doing their jobs."
Before launching the Atlanta Criminal Defense Team, she interned with the Fulton County Public Defenders Office in Atlanta, where she resides to this day.
The Dwight Howard case she’s currently handling won’t be her first. Back in 2022, she also notably represented influencer ‘Tasha K’ against pop star Cardi B in a defamation case.
Looking at the allegations made against Dwight Howard
Now that we have established that Olga Izmaylova is a veteran attorney who has been managing partner of her own firm for six years, let's look at the case. According to court documents, Stephen Harper initiated a DM conversation with Dwight Howard back in 2021.
When the two met up in July of 2021 at Dwight Howard's house, Harper alleges that things became non-consensual. In addition, he has alleged that Dwight Howard inflicted emotional distress upon him, and falsely imprisoned him as well.
In separate court documents, Dwight Howard denied the allegations, citing the encounter as consensual, while denying that he caused Harper any injury. A year following the encounter, Harper went to the police to file an incident report.
It's important to note that the lawsuit is civil in nature, meaning that Harper isn't looking to put Howard behind bars. Instead, the suit could see the NBA vet forced to pay millions in damages.
A statement from Olga Izmaylova provided to ESPN shed light on why Harper didn't bring the lawsuit to light sooner. The statement reads:
"We had some independent investigation to conduct and Mr. Harper had some private factors to consider, before we all felt ready to proceed with the lawsuit."
Of course, as always, in the justice system, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Stay tuned for updates as they become available regarding the matter.