Lawyer John Clune is acting for Jarryd Hayne’s alleged rape victim

THE lawyer representing Jarryd Hayne’s alleged rape victim is responsible for a number of America’s highest profile pay-outs.

Jarryd Hayne returned to the NRL in 2016.

THE lawyer representing Jarryd Hayne’s alleged rape victim has been revealed to be one of the most high-profile lawyers in American sport.

Attorney John Clune has filed court documents on behalf of his client, identified only as “Ms. V” from Santa Clara County in California, accusing Hayne of nonconsensual sexual intercourse on December 21, 2015.

The high-profile civil rights lawyer has featured on America’s 60 Minutes and Good Morning America.

The court documents Clune filed against Hayne allege the incident occured in the early hours of a Monday morning after Hayne had played for the 49ers in a Sunday afternoon NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Levi’s Stadium.

The civil suit documents allege Hayne took the heavily intoxicated young woman home from a bar in an Uber and she was then sexually assaulted after being told “no kissing”.

The suit contains four complaints against Hayne including sexual battery, gender violence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Kobe Bryant leaves court during his civil hearing in 2003.

Clune provided a statement to news.com.au about the documents on Wednesday, saying his client was alleging Hayne had caused her “significant physical pain”.

“Mr Hayne brought our client back to his home, approached her in the dark, turned her around as to not face him and told her ‘no kissing’,” Clune said.

“He then had nonconsensual sexual intercourse with her, causing her significant physical pain.”

Clune also posted a tweet on Wednesday that linked Hayne with the so-called #MeToo movement publicly shaming acts of discrimination against women.

Her too. #49ers #nfl @brendatracy24 @NCAVAORG https://t.co/EK7ulrV0go

— John Clune (@CluneEsq) December 20, 2017

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office reviewed a potential criminal case against Hayne and rejected it for insufficient evidence in October, 2016.

Clune has successfully represented clients in other cases where alleged sexual assaults are reported months after they are alleged to have occured.

Clune has an extensive record of helping rape accusers move forward with civil cases against their alleged rapists, including high-profile cases against former NBA megastar Kobe Bryant, Tampa Bay NFL star Jameis Winston and Venezuelan baseball star Johan Santana.

John Clune has featured in some of the highest profile cases in American sport.

In 2003, Clune’s growing reputation as one of America’s best lawyers representing victims of alleged sex crimes was further enhanced when he represented a 19-year-old who had accused Bryant of raping her.

Public prosecutors dropped their criminal case against Bryant when the woman declined to testify in the case. Clune’s civil case was settled after the NBA star made a public apology.

“Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognise now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did,” Bryant’s statement read.

“After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.”

The Bryant case established Clune’s name as a legal superstar in representing alleged victims in civil cases and it prompted him to start his own practice in 2007 working only for victims of violent crimes and specialising in Title IX Law.

Title IX Law covers sexual harassment, sexual violence and any gender-based discrimination across universities and schools which receive federal government funding in the United States.

In 2009 he co-founded the Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center, a not-for-profit organisation set-up to protect the rights of victims of crimes.
He also represented a woman in the famous University of Oregon gang-rape case in 2014.

In the case a woman accused three basketball players of repeatedly raping her.

Jarryd Hayne became Australia’s first running back to play in the NFL.

Alongside colleague Blaine Kerr’s five-year case in the famous University of Colorado rape scandal of 1997 — which was settled with an agreement for the University to pay the victim $2.5 million — Clune’s Oregon case is credited with completely re-shaping campus culture for student-athletes in America, The Washington Post reports.

Clune’s Oregon case was settled in 2015 when the university agreed to pay $800,000 as well as provide free tuition and housing on campus for a woman who accused three Oregon players of gang-raping her.

Clune accused Oregon coach Dana Altman of having full knowledge that star recruit Brandon Austin had been suspended from the basketball team at Providence College after he and a teammate were accused of rape.

In the incident at Oregon, the woman alleged that after drinking at a party she was cornered in a bathroom by Austin and teammates Dominic Artis and Damyean Dotson – all members of the Ducks basketball team at the time – and raped. She also alleged that the trio then took her to an off-campus apartment and assaulted her again. By overlooking Austin’s rape accusations, the university violated the woman’s Title IX rights, Clune argued.

Clune and colleague Kerr are certainly up for the challenge presented by the accusations against Hayne, according to Foxsports.com.

Clune and Kerr have both been involved in multiple high-profile cases involving athletes accused of rape.

Clune has handled campus rape cases involving students at Wake Forest, University of the Pacific, the University of Colorado, Stanford and Harvard.